GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 





CHRIST MEETING TWO DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD 
TO EMMAUS. 
Mark 16 : 12, 13; Luke 24: 13-35. 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST'S ASCENSION 
Mark 16: 19, 20: Luke 24 : 50—53 



WHERE 
ARE THE DEAD? 



REV. LEN G. BROUGHTON, D. D. 
Pastor of CHRIST CHURCH, 
Westminster Bridge Road 
LONDON 



AUTHOR OF 
"The Kingdom Parables" "The Prayers of Jesus" 
"Table Talks of Jesus" etc., etc. 

With testimony by Rev. F. B. Meyer, D. D., and others. 




By 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE PHILLIPS-BOYD PUBLISHING CO. 
Atlanta, Georgia. 



M 10 19V4 



©CI.A362ili 



To 

Louisa Hawkins Broughton, 

my sainted mother, 
this volume is affectionately 
DEDICATED 



"That where I am, pe map be also."— John 14:3 



A SKETCH OF DOCTOR BROUGHTON'S 
WONDERFUL WORK IN ATLANTA 

REVEREND Len G. Broughton is now 
pastor of Christ Church,, Westminster 
Bridge Road, London, England. The 
most remarkable work of his career was done 
in Atlanta, Georgia, as the founder of the Bap- 
tist Tabernacle. 

Broughton came to Atlanta fifteen years 
ago; it was then a town of 65,000. He came 
with a vision. He left a strong church in 
Roanoke, Va., and came to the weakest, most 
helpless church in Atlanta. He left a church 
crowded to the doors, and came to a church 
empty, save for the hollow echoes that filled its 
bare walls. He came alone, against advice, in 
the face of quiet scorn, and the kindly satire 
of good friends, — he came with no hope but 
the wrapt purpose which had come from a vis- 
ion, a vision of that day when the church of the 
living God should put the* emphasis of service 
upon each utterance of 'its creed, and each 
word of its propaganda. 

4 



Broughton had a vision that had grown out 
of a pre-vision. The pre-vision had come while 
driving an ox cart loaded with wood in the 
country hills of North Carolina ; it had grown 
when he became a physician and touched 
thumping, throbbing pulses and cooled the rag- 
ing of hot fevers in the heads of pleading pa- 
tients, then the vision broke — the church must 
make loads of wood lighter on plodding oxen, 
give hope to the dreaming lad hid away in the 
hills, and must come into the room of every 
wan, worn and wretched sick soul, and woo 
them back to health ; the while singing a song 
that should be sung in the name of the Naza- 
rene. All of the vision stands in Atlanta — a vic- 
tory. A great church building, seating 3,300 ; 
an infirmary filled to its capacity; a hospital 
for pellag ra, a disease so dreaded that this is 
the sole hospital in America that opens its 
doors unconditionally to its victims; a home 
for working girls surging into this city, and 
saved thus from the restless, roaring maelstrom 
which sweeps so many into the great social ar- 
canum about which righteous men only speak 

5 



in whispers; and once a year a nation-wide 
Bible conference, bringing thousands from the 
far North, and the distant South to ask ques- 
tions of the doctors, to be answered by them — 
this and more in the secret ken of Broughton 
only, is the victory of the vision that led him 
on. 

His Crowning Victory. 
Atlanta misunderstood Broughton for ten 
years — as Florence, Savanarola, as Epworth, 
Wesley, as Worms, Luther. The day of his 
vindication — his final victory, his unanswer- 
able triumph came when the corner-stone to 
the last of his great buildings was laid. This 
was two years ago. Broughton 's day had come. 
I shall never forget the picturesqueness of it 
all, as he like a tender child, laid the cap on the 
corner-stone to his new and great tabernacle. 
He was so quiet, so gentle, so like a spirit-sub- 
dued conquerer in the presence of the power 
that had led him hitherto. I had seen Brough- 
ton rage like a wild wind, beating out the sin 
flames that were consuming the souls of his au- 
diences; I had seen him ripple with humour, 

s 



and flash with wit, sometimes not choosing 
either the thing or the person who should be 
the victim of his satire, or ridicule ; I had seen 
him overcome with passion for the souls of 
men, as with the ecstacy of a prophet of God 
he challenged men to repent. I had seen him 
as a spent, worn, weary man, tired of his la- 
bors, sighing for rest and sleep, but this day it 
was all different. The flaming fire was but a 
quiet glow ; the raging wind a tender sigh ; the 
prophet with long hair and rapt vision and 
keen eyes, and the confident speech of victory 
was gone to-day. Broughton was not himself ; 
the self that you and I had seen before was on 
a journey, he was his better self to-day — he 
was at his best. I saw him bare-headed, under 
the perfect Southern sky, the soft spring 
breeze blowing his long, thin gray hairs; his 
face all drawn and emaciated, lined and 
seamed with the memories of some bitter fights 
which had all been leading him to this day of 
days. I do not doubt that all these things came 
thronging into his heart of hearts as he stood 
at the culmination of them all. More like a 

7 



spirit than a human being, his hands trembled 
with the roll of members he had gathered into 
his church; overcome until he wept, looking 
with unspeakable tenderness toward his only 
son as he drew away the white canvas from the 
cornerstone, unable to speak a word, Len GL 
Broughton stood, subdued, awed, clothed in 
that beauteous humility like unto which one 
must possess if he is to enter the kingdom of 
heaven. This was the first moment in Brough- 
ton 's life when he was not master, this moment 
had mastered Broughton, and he groped his 
way through it, not alone, but sustained by a 
hand invisible and a hope divine. 

Ox "Broughtox's Day." 
With thin, slender fingers he took the cap to 
the cornerstone in his hands. He made one 
sally to be his old self, "I will show you how 
good a mason I am," but that was a poor sally, 
nobody smiled ; they were weeping ; I was ; for 
they knew Broughton was too filled with joy to 
joke, and they knew that the hopes and wishes 
and dreams of twelve long, hard years were 
marshaling themselves in array before him, 

8 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




• ELIJAHS SACRIFICE ON MOUNT C ARM EL • 




and memories more sacred and tender than the 
great populace could conceive were beating out 
music to Broughton inexpressibly sweet, as he 
had come to his day. So, with the smile all 
gone, but with a calm ineffable peace, Brough- 
ton sealed the cap to the stone at high noon, 
under a cloudless sky; and I thought because 
Broughton was so quiet and speechless and 
broken in body, I thought he was sealing it 
with his own blood. And then he prayed — 
and Broughton 's day had come and gone. The 
day of his vindication, the day of the realiza- 
tion of his hopes, the day of his self -revelation 
had come, the world had said, " This is Brough- 
ton 's day," and those who stood around learnt 
that Broughton was really a simple-hearted 
disciple who had been keeping in tune with 
God's way and word and will; and when the 
clay that made the vessel had grown suffi- 
ciently thin, the real sustaining inner light had 
cast through its glow, which had shone like the 
sun of a perfect day. 

Now he stops to unstrap the burden from 
his bent back, to walk over meadow grass, and 

9 



climb high hills — to rest ; for half a year with 
no burden to carry, and no loads to drag. He 
is going because in those years when he beat 
his strong hands against the bolted doors which 
his city would not open, when he set fire to his 
own heart that it might be a firebrand to touch 
the faggots that bound some gross wrong to 
the stake, in these years the relentless and ruth- 
less Extortionist whom we call Waste had in- 
sidiously gathered his tribute, and Broughton, 
with the trembling hand of a man of eighty — 
though he is but forty-seven — and with a body 
swaying to carry six feet height with one hun- 
dred and eighteen pounds of bone and sinew, 
the reserve centers of his nervous system 
drained — is to be refreshed by a half year's 
fretlessness and fairly won reveling in the 
sense of victory. 

Atlanta is the Loser. 
Atlanta is disturbed to its heart's depths to 
see Broughton leave. The citizenry is con- 
scious that its greater civic force is going away. 
Large meetings of the foremost citizens have 

been held, and the attendants together with all 

10 



of the editors of the secular press, have com- 
bined to offer Broughton a year's vacation; to 
establish all of the tabernacle institutions upon 
a permanent basis and to put the city more in- 
clusively in co-operation with his plans. He 
has heard the voice of God and answers. 

Last Monday he stood, quiet, serene, pos- 
sessed but broken bodied amid a circle of fel- 
low pastors, many of whom had stood with him 
in the toiling years. He told his story until 
he grew tired and then he sat in a chair. His 
voice broke once, twice, maybe, as he roamed 
through the silent rooms of memory. Heart's 
griefs, heart's triumphs, heart's bleedings, 
and heart's victories. He never loomed so 
great before. The room was very quiet where 
he sat, distraught, subdued, but confident. God 
was leading him away from the thing dearer 
to him than himself. Incidentally he said, 
' 6 Last week I received a message from a 
friend. ' Public sentiment demands an early 
answer. You have nothing to fear. Come.' " 
6 6 And," said Broughton to his brethren, "My 

li 



reply is, 6 public sentiment here demands that 
I take all the time I please.' " 

That single sentence tells the story of a great 
secret-possessing heart that goes to London to 
interpret in that world's metropolis his con- 
ception of the church; namely, that body of 
Christ that shall give bread to the hungry, de- 
liverance to the captive, a lint bandage to the 
wounded, a shelter to the guileless, a Saviour 
to the sinner, a heaven to the dying, and a bur- 
ial to the dead. 

Broughton has turned his face to a new con- 
tinent, a new horizon, and to a better day. 

Written by William Kussell Owen for the 
British Weekly. 

The Publisheks. 



12 



INTRODUCTION 



THERE is no subject which demands more 
thought than the future state of our blessed 
dead. I shall set forth in this volume 
in the simplest and most natural manner pos- 
sible what I firmly believe to be the true teach- 
ing of the scriptures on the future life, and the 
conditions that determine it. 

I shall not attempt controversy, there is very 
little good obtainable in that way. My method 
shall be to present my own views, without re- 
gard to the views of those who may differ 
from me. 

Ever since I stood, as a child, by the death- 
bed of my dear old grandfather, and heard him 
sing while he realized that he was dying, "I am 
going home to die no more," I have been in- 
terested in the future world, and have feasted 
my soul on every Scripture teaching bearing 
upon it, and also every testimony obtainable 
of dying saints, as they went over to try it. 

May God grant that the work which this 
volume represents may be the means of com- 
forting many a tried and sorrowing soul on the 
way to the other shore. 



Fraternally yours, 




Pastor of CHRIST CHURCH 
Westminster Bridge Road, 
LONDON, ENGLAND 



18 



List of Illustrations, 



Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D. 
' Christ Healing the Sick 

Our Father Who Art in Heaven 
Hallowed Be Thy Name 
v Thy Kingdom Come 

Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven 
v Give us this Day our Daily Bread 

Forgive us our Trespasses 
^Lead Us Not Into Temptation 
^ Deliver Us From Evil 
^| Christ and the Sisters of Bethany 
A Christ Preaching to the Multitude 

The Anointing of Jesus in the House of Simon 
''The Prodigal Son 
^ Driving Out the Money Changers 
The Good Samaritan 
The Ascension 
The Annunciation 
The Adoration of the Wise Men 



The Last Supper 
Agony in Gethsemane 
Before Pilate 
Christ Bearing His Cross 
Preparing The Body for Burial 
The Burial of Christ 
Mary at the Sepulchre 
v Christ Meeting Two Disciples on the Way to Emmaus. 




Christ and the Woman of Samaria 
Raising the Son of the Widow of Nain 
* Raising the Daughter of Jairus 
Blessing Little Children 



14 



INDEX. 
I. 

If A Man Die, Shall He Live Again I . 19 



II. 

Recognition in Heaven 37 

III. 

Will This Body Live Again? 59 

IV. 

Coming Again With Jesus 77 

V. 

"Even So" 99 

VI. 

The Restoration of Israel 107 

VII. 

God's Last Pay Day 125 

VIII. 

My Father's House 139 

IX. 

The Holy City 157 

X. 

The Mystery of Affliction ...... 173 

XL 

Beyond The Black Crepe . . . . . . 201 

XII. 

"Sometime" 219 

15 



XIII. 

The Place of Punishment 223 

XIV. 

Life's Way of Reward 243 

XV. 

The Life Worth While 257 

XVI. 

The Changed Life 277 

XVII. 

The Place of God 283 

XVIII. 

Home, Sweet Home 303 

XIX. 

The Place of The Bible 319 

XX. 



A Testimony — Transformed Suffering 
— By Rev. F. B. Meyer, Pastor Re- 
gent's Park Chapel, and Hon. Secre- 
tary National Free Church Council of 
England 341 

XXI. 

Other Testimonies on Immortality . . 263 

XXII. 

A Testimony — What Heaven is Like — 

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon . . . 377 



16 



IF A MAN DIE 
SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN? 



Job xiv: 14. — "// a man die, shall he live again 



CHAPTER I. 
If a Man Die Shall He Live Again 1 

PERHAPS the most universally interest- 
ing question is that which is. raised by 
the patriarch J ob in this text. It brings 
before us vividly the two supreme problems of 
life, the problem of death and immortality. 

Canon Scott Holland in a sermon on death, 
gives a description of what he saw and felt 
while listening to the music given by the genius 
of Edward Elgar in the " Dream of Geron- 
tius;" and then applies his experience to 
death, and the future life. He says : 

"I looked round the crowded hall, and found 
it wholly incredible that this absorbing drama 
of a dying man, so momentous, so tragic, so sol- 
itary, which Cardinal Newman had elevated 
and transfigured into so stupendous an action 
by the power of immortal verse, was actually 
going to be enacted by every single soul there 
before me. 

" There they sat, ranged row upon row, 
meaningless, nameless hordes, it would seem; 
yet each one would be singled out at last, to be- 

19 



come the solitary actor in this lonely epic to 
which music was lending such overwhelming 
force. Each would gaze at last out at a world 
that would have suddenly gone strange and far 
away, gazing out with the look that we all know 
so well ; the look of one withdrawn ; on whom a 
mystery has fallen; who feels himself sucked 
away out of helping hands, and already a lorn 
stranger, troubled, wondering, and aware. 

"I am near to death ; I know it now, 

Not by token of this faltering breath, 
This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow, 

'Tis this new feeling, never felt before. 
Be with me Lord, in my extremity, 

When I am going, when I am no more, 
'Tis this strange innermost abandonment — 

Lover of souls, great God, I look to Thee — 
This emptying out of each constituent, 

And natural force by which I come to Thee. 
Pray for me, O my friends, a visitant 

Is knocking his dire summons at my door, 
The like of whom, to scare me and to daunt 

Has never, never come to me before 
'Tis death ; O loving friends, your prayers, 'tis 
he! 

As though my very being had given way, 
As though I was no more a substance now, 
And could fall back on naught to be my stay. 

20 



Help, living Lord! Thou, my sole Refuge, 
Thou!" 

6 6 Page after page the amazing music rolled 
out the awful meaning of the words, and the 
scene grew and expanded, and all earth and all 
heaven were drawn into the stupendous mo- 
ment in which that pilgrim soul passed out of 
the body into the eternal abyss. And still, as 
the magic of art spent its powers in intensify- 
ing the dread solemnity of that lonely pilgrim- 
age, it became increasingly, almost insanely 
impossible, to say 'We all shall do it, everyone 
of us.' 

i 6 This drama will repeat itself over and over 
again; round every one of those rows of men 
there on the seats this supreme interest will 
suddenly concentrate itself and each one will 
have become the center of this historic tragedy. 
Nothing will matter at all, except what is going 
on around that bed where he lies dying. 
Heaven will stoop down, earth will quake and 
fail; good and evil will wrestle for his soul, 
there will be for him but one thing doing in all 
the world: his passing, his judgment.' ' 

21 



But the question of most curious interest to 
us is not that of death, but of immortality and 
the future state. It is a significant fact, that 
the earliest records we have of the race of man, 
show him to be a believer in a future life. Take 
for example, the earliest records of Ancient 
Egypt, and there we find independent of any 
direct revelation, save a revelation of the inner 
conscience, a firm belief in a future life. 

Mr. Urquhart, in his New Biblical Gruide, 
Vol. 4, discusses this fact at great length, and 
among other things he says : 

"The great work of each successive king was 
to provide his place of burial. What we call 
the Funeral Ritual, but what bore in Egyptian 
the name of The Book of the Manifestation to 
Light, was the great sacred book of Egypt.' ' 

Ibid, speaking of the same thing says : 

"A copy of this, more or less complete ac- 
cording to the fortune of the deceased, was 
deposited in the case of every mummy. . . . 
The whole series of the pilgrimages which the 
soul, separated from the body was believed to 
accomplish in the various divisions of the 

22 



lower regions, are related in this book ; it also 
contains the hymns, prayers and formulae for 
all ceremonies relative to funerals, and to the 
worship of the dead. ' 1 

Dr. Budge, in speaking of the belief of 
these ancient Egyptians in immortality says: 

"The great central idea of immortality 
which existed unchanged for thousands of 
years, formed the pivot upon which the reli- 
gious and social life of the ancient Egyptians 
actually turned. From the beginning to the 
end of his life the Egyptian's chief thought 
was of the life beyond the grave, and the hew- 
ing of his tomb in the rock, and the providing 
of its furniture, every detail of which was pre- 
scribed by the custom of the country, absorbed 
the best thoughts of his mind, and a large 
share of his wordly goods, and kept him ever 
mindful of the time when his mummified body 
would be borne to his 6 everlasting house' in the 
limestone plateau, or hill. ' ' 

He writes in another place : 

"In perusing the literature of the ancient 
Egyptians, one of the first things which forces 

23 



itself upon the mind of the reader, is the fre- 
quency of allusions to the future life, or to 
things which appertain thereto. The writers 
of the religious and other books, belonging to 
all periods of Egyptian history, which have 
come down to us, tacitly assume throughout 
that those who once have lived in this world 
have i renewed* their life in that which is be- 
yond the grave, and that they still live, and 
will live until time shall be no more." 

But this is not strange : human life demands 
immortality. Cant, the great moralist, bases 
his whole argument for immortality on the de- 
mands of the human conscience, which ever 
bids us to aim and strive at perfection, though 
we know that perfection is not reached upon 
the earth. 

No conscience will ever be satisfied in this 
world : the area for its operation is entirely too 
circumscribed. 

"The facts of life confirm the hope 
That in a world of larger scope — 
What here is faithfully begun 
Will be completed, not undone." 

24 



Immortality is demanded to settle the in- 
equalities of life. The world is full of wrongs. 
History is largely a record of gross injustice. 
The cheapest thing on the market is human 
life. The martyr at the stake is only one phase 
of testimony of the world against righteous- 
ness : it simply will not have it if in any way 
it can prevent it. 

If death ends all, what about the chance of 
men like Savanarola and Latimer with the 
men who took their lives ? 

But I say, this is only one phase of the testi- 
mony of the world against righteousness. 
There are thousands of other ways of martyr- 
ing men. There is, for example, the man or 
woman from whose life the chief est charm has 
been snatched by the hand of slander or greed. 
What about the chance of such martyrs, if 
there is nothing beyond the grave ? 

But again, the very imperfection of life de- 
mands immortality. Every noble soul desires 
to see the day of perfection for his own heart 
and life ; but this can not be under the circum- 
stances that environ us, it must be in the fu- 

25 



ture world. Our ideals come to us as heavenly 
visions. They originate therefore in heaven 
and must be realized there. 

Beethoven says, "My most polished sym- 
phonies are but empty echoes of the music I 
hear in my dreams." 

Raphael was disappointed with his master- 
pieces. The vision he had of it was far su- 
perior to what he was able to put on canvas. 
No poet ever revealed the depth of the vol- 
ume of the music that swelled in his soul. 

No reformer ever came near the realization 
of his cherished ideals. 

Conception has always transcended expres- 
sion. 

These things are commonplace, but they 
point to an underlying fact in the very nature 
of men — the necessity for a future state in 
which the dreams, ideals and plans of his life 
are to be matured. 

But still again, we see immortality sug- 
gested in the indestructibility of matter. Noth- 
ing is destroyed. We may start out with ever 
so strong a determination to annihilate this or 

26 



that thing, but we will only return from our 
efforts realizing that we had undertaken an 
impossible task. After all our efforts at an- 
nihilation there will not be one atom less than 
when we began. Of course, we may change the 
order of existing atoms, but we do not annihi- 
late them when we change them. 

Now, it is perfectly natural that we should 
conclude that if atoms of matter live on for- 
ever, so shall man, who is the highest touch of 
God's creative genius. 

An excavator in Egypt obtained some grains 
of wheat found in the tomb of an Egyptian 
mummy. Five thousand years had passed and 
the wheat was sterile as death. The scientists 
decided to experiment with the wheat, and 
hence they sowed it in the ground and through 

death, came life! The wheat of the ancient 
Pharaohs sent up stalks to be kissed by the 
sun of the Twentieth Century. 

Shall grains of wheat survive thousands of 
years, and men and women go down to the 
grave with no hope of a beyond ? 

27 



But we will turn from this line of reason- 
ing to the teaching of the Book of God. It is 
impossible in a single message like this, to do 
more than merely point out some of the most 
striking utterances which the Bible makes con- 
cerning immortality. 

Certainly the old Patriarchs looked forward 
to a state of blessedness after death. 

"Who can count the dust of Jacob, or num- 
ber the fourth part of Israel ? Let me die the 
death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
like his. ' ' Numbers 23 :10. 

"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer 
liveth, and at last He will stand up upon the 
earth : and after my skin, even this body is de- 
stroyed, then without my flesh shall I see G-od ; 
whom I, even I shall see on my side, and mine 
eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger, my 
heart is consumed within me." Job 19:25-27. 

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory 
rejoiceth; my flesh also shall dwell in safety. 
For thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; 
neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see 
corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of 
life." Psa. 16:9-11. 

"As for me, I shall behold thy face in right- 
eousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake, 
with beholding thy form." Psa. 17:15. 

28 



" Death shall be their shepherd: and the up- 
right shall have dominion over them in the 
morning; and their beauty shall be for Sheol 
to consume, that there be no habitation for 
it." Psa. 49:14. 

6 6 Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, and 
afterward receive me to glory. Whom have 
I in heaven but Thee ? And there is none that 
I desire upon earth beside Thee. My flesh and 
my heart faileth, but God is the strength of 
my heart, and my portion forever." Psa. 
73:24-26. 

"He hath swallowed up death forever; and 
the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from 
all faces ; and the reproach of His people will 
He take away from off all the earth: for Je- 
hovah hath spoken it." Isa. 25:8. 

"Thy dead shall live: my dead bodies shall 
arise. Awake and sing ye that dwell in the 
dust ... and the earth shall cast forth 
the dead." Isa. 26:19. 

"And many of them that sleep in the dust 
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting 
life, and some to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt. And they that are wise shall shine as 
the brightness of the firmament ; and they that 
turn many to righteousness, as the stars for 
ever and ever. . . . But go thou thy way 
till the end be; for thou shalt rest and shall 
stand in thy lot, at the end of the days. ' ' Dan. 
12:2,3,13. 

29 



"I will ransom them from the power of 
Sheol, I will redeem them from death . . . 
O Sheol where is thy destruction ?" Hosea 
13:14. 

Now we will call attention to some of the 
most striking references in the New Testament 
bearing directly on immortality. 

"And he said unto them, Verily I say unto 
thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in Para- 
dise." Luke 23:43. 

"And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being 
in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and 
Lazarus in his bosom." Luke 16:23. 

"While we are at home in the body, we are 
absent from the Lord ... we are of 
good courage I say, for we are willing rather 
to be absent from the body, and to be at home 
with the Lord. " 2 Cor. 5 :6-8. 

"But I am in a strait betwixt the two, hav- 
ing a desire to depart and be with Christ ; for 
it is very far better; and yet to abide in the 
flesh. . . ." Phil. 1:23-24. 

But the greatest argument after all to the 
believer, is that which he finds in Jesus Christ 
Himself. He is the revelation of immortality : 
He was dead, and behold He is alive forever- 
more. And because He lives, we shall live also. 
We can not die while He lives. The Apostle 



30 



Paul declares "For me to live is Christ, and 
to die is gain." 

The cross has conquered the grave; and 
death is dead forever. 

We speak of our friends and loved ones as 
being dead : but we should not for they are not, 
they have only been transferred to another 
sphere of life and operation. 

Last summer, I was privileged to make an 
address at the Stockwell Orphanage, London, 
on the occasion of the birthday of its Pounder, 
Chas. Haddon Spurgeon. As I sat on the plat- 
form waiting for my time to speak, and looked 
into the faces of the thousands of splendidly 
kept boys and girls in that institution, and saw 
in the background the bust of the founder, I 
could not help saying to myself : "They have 
chiseled you in marble but you are not dead: 
you live to-day not only in the lives of thou- 
sands of boys and girls that have been trained 
for life as a result of your labors ; but you live 
actually in the world of spirits, and the activ- 
ity of your soul is as manifest where you are 

31 



now as when you were at work among those 
needy lives." 

Oh, I know this is all mysterious, but thank 
Grod there is enough reality in it to lay hold of 
our minds, and comfort our hearts. For we 
all have at times been called to separate from 
those that we loved : and what is more, we will 
ere long have ourselves to cease the labors of 
this life. How blessed it is to look forward to 
a continuation of it in the other world, under 
circumstances that will permit of its fullest 
development ! 

Truly with the poet we can say : 

"Life, I know not what thou art, 
But know that thou and I must part ; 
And when or where, or how we met, 
I own to me's a secret yet. 
But this I know, when thou art fled, 
Where'er they lay these limbs, this head, 
No clod so valueless shall be 
As all that remains of me. 

O whither, whither dost thou fly? 
Where bend unseen thy trackless course? 
And in this strange divorce, 
Ah, tell me where I must seek this compound, 
I? 

32 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




To the vast ocean of imperial flame 
From whence thy essence came 
Dost thou thy flight pursue when freed 
From matter's base, encumbering weed? 
Or dost thou hide from sight, 
Wait like some spell-bound knight, 
Through blank oblivious years th' appointed 
hour 

To break thy trance, and reassume thy power % 
Yet can'st thou without thought or feeling be? 
O say, what art thou, when no more thou'rt 
me? 

Life ! we have been long together, 
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather 
'Tis hard to part when friends are dear ; 
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear ; 
Then steal away, give little warning, 
Choose thine own time; 
Say not G-ood-night, but in some brighter 
clime 

Bid me Good-morning!" 



33 



RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN. 



II Samuel xii:23. — "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? 
can I bring him back again? I shall go to him but he will 
not return to me" 



CHAPTEE II. 

Eecognition in Heaven. 

"T IFE changes all our thoughts of heaven ; 

At first we think of streets of gold, 
1 J Of gates of pearl and dazzling light, 

Of shining wings and robes of white, 
And things all strange to mortal sight. 
But in the afterward of years 
It is a more familiar place, 
A home unhurt by sigh or tears, 
Where waiteth many a well-known face. 
With passing months it comes more near, 
It grows more real day by day. 
Not strange or cold, but very dear — 
The glad home-land not far away. 
Where none are sick, or poor, or lone, 
The place where we shall find our own. 
And as we think of all we knew 
Who there have met to part no more, 
Our longing hearts desire home, too, 
With all the strife and trouble o'er." 

Ever since I first began to visit Europe I 
have been interested in viewing the old palaces 
where lived the great rulers in the days gone 

by. 

During my first visits to England I used to 
spend days around her old palaces, reading 
guide books — the usual American's occupation 

37 



in England — and wondering how things went 
on inside the walls of those ancient palaces. I 
have often passed Buckingham Palace in com- 
ing and going, and wondered what was going 
on inside those walls, and how they did things 
there. Of course I never expect to have my 
curiosity gratified, and perhaps that makes it 
the more interesting, and certainly the more 
abiding. I can not help it. They may think 
that I have no business with what takes place 
in there, but I was born that much like a wom- 
an: just to know that I can not know, makes 
me feel like I must know. 

I want for the present to take you back with 
me down the dim corridors of the past, and 
have you stop with me for just a little while by 
one of the greatest palaces of all the ages ; and 
certainly one in which lived one of the greatest 
rulers that the world ever saw. It is the home 
of Israel's Shepherd King. It is a magnificent 
palace, with its splendid columns and its many 
courts, its long corridors and broad halls, each 
stretching far back into the distance; its un- 
equalled gardens and exquisite flowers. Ar- 



38 



mies of soldiers constantly mark time in front 
of the palace. They are there for the purpose 
of protecting the king and his household. 

I fancy it was during the shades of night, 
while the soldiers marked time 'round the pal- 
ace, that the arch enemy of the race passed 
their ranks. He passed unobserved, and en- 
tered the door and stalked down the long cor- 
ridor, past the beautiful court, and then down 
the broad hall, and across it to the king's cham- 
ber, in which lay the child of fortune; and 
when he entered that room he strode to the 
side of the bed of the child, and reached forth 
his hand and with icy fingers broke the brittle 
thread of life and the child was dead. 

Nobody knew he was in the house : not even 
the king himself knew of his presence. But 
after a while the king became conscious of the 
fact that the monster death was lurking in the 
chamber, and he would drive him from his pal- 
ace. But he failed; and failing, he took him- 
self off to a quiet place and prostrated himself 
upon the ground, and began to implore God to 
come and do what he could not do. And there, 

39 



without food and water, fasting and praying, 
lie remained for days. 

After a while he heard the servants as they 
whispered in his presence, lest they should in- 
form him of what had transpired and add to 
his grief. But he heard the servants whisper- 
ing, and arose, and asked, "Is the child dead?" 
And they said, "Yes, he is dead." Then it is 
said "David arose from the earth, and 
washed and anointed himself and changed his 
apparel, and he came into the house of J ehovah 
and worshipped. . . . And he said, * While 
the child was yet alive I fasted and wept : for I 
said, Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not 
be gracious to me, that the child may live? 
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? 
Can I bring him back again ? I shall go to him, 
but he will not return to me/ " 

Ah, my friends ! I wonder how many peo- 
ple have at some time felt the thrill of these 
words! I wonder how many of us have at 
some time been comforted, as David himself 
was comforted, with that thought. 

40 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




THE BURIAIv OF CHRIST 
Matt. 27 : 57—61 ; Mark 15 : 42—47 ; Luke 23 : 50—56 ; John 19 : 31—42 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




MARY MAGDALENE AT CHRIST'S SEPULCHRE 
Mark 16 : 9—11 , John 20 : 11-17 



Just five hundred miles from the city of At- 
lanta, where for fifteen years I lived and la- 
bored, was a beautiful little mountain city 
called Eeidsville. In that city I once lived. 
In that city I was ordained to preach. In that 
city I preached my first sermon. In that city 
we buried our only little girl, a little cooing 
darling. That cemetery is along by the side 
of the railway track. 

Twenty-two years had passed, and I chanced 
to pass on a train over that track, and the train 
stopped in sight of the cemetery. I looked 
through the window, and on the hill top I 
looked for a beautiful white tomb which had 
grown much dearer these twenty-two years, 
and I recognized the spot where it all took 
place, and for a time I lived over again that 
sad experience. I saw a little headstone that 
marked the grave ; and as I looked at it, a tear 
came into my eye and ran down my face. A 
man stepped up to me and said, "Have you 
anybody buried in that cemetery'?" I told 
him my story, and as I told him I thought of 

41 



these words "I shall go to him, but he will not 
return to me." 

And from the depth of my heart I would 
say — though I loved her as I never loved any- 
thing in this world — "I thank God that she 
has gone to Him, and that it is as it is ; that I 
am going to her rather than have her come 
back to me." 

And others have at some time passed 
through some experience like my own, and got 
such comfort and solace out of these words, 
uttered under the direct inspiration of the 
Spirit of Glod by His servant David. 

And the question that I present to you is 
this: Is there any sufficient ground for the 
hope that the majority of us Christians have 
of heavenly recognition? It is to this ques- 
tion that I desire to address myself. 

First of all, let me say that I am not going 
to speculate at all around the meaning of the 
word " heaven." I know all that the world is 
saying to-day about that state : but for the pur- 
pose that I have in my mind, I am not at all 
concerned with it. I am simply here speaking 

42 



of heaven as we have regarded it all our lives, 
and as our dear old fathers and mothers re- 
garded it in their lives. 

First of all I want us to pay our attention 
to a great class of skeptics that naturally force 
themselves upon us when we come to consider 
a subject like this. I want us to consider them 
for a special reason, a reason which I think 
you will afterwards see. 

First, there is that company of skeptics, hon- 
est men, perhaps, who say, "I do not believe 
there is any future state for me." I have no 
time to argue with that man ; only let me say in 
passing him by, that the man that holds that 
view denies the most ancient traditions, and 
most abiding, that the world has ever known 
since the days of man. But I am not going to 
argue that question with him now, I am going 
to pass him by, and come to a class of men that 
do believe in a future state — but they can not 
somehow accept what is said about heavenly 
recognition, for the reason, first that the 
heaven they see pictured in the Scripture is too 
big. And I agree with them that heaven is 

43 



big. And if you are at all in doubt about the 
size of it you read John's description of it in 
The Revelation. When the finger of inspira- 
tion touched his heart and brain and eyes, be- 
yond the curtain that divides the mainland of 
time from the great ocean of eternity, he saw 
what we call heaven, and he gives us some few 
hints concerning it. He describes it as to size 
like this: "Thousands, and thousands." That 
is his first glimpse of it : then he is taken up a 
little higher, and he gets a second glimpse of 
it and he says : ' 6 Ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand." And then he is taken a little higher 
up, and again he gets another view of it, and 
he speaks of "A hundred and forty-four thou- 
sands and thousands of thousands." Then 
he goes up a little higher, and this time he 
speaks of it as "A great multitude that no man 
can number." When he starts out to describe 
the bigness of heaven he begins with "thou- 
sands" and ends with "a multitude that no 
man can number ! ' ' 

Oh, I am sorry for the man who thinks that 
heaven is a place where he and only his little 

44 



church will get in! or where he and his little 
coterie will get in. " Thousands'' and " thou- 
sands upon thousands;" beyond the possibil- 
ity of numbering was what John saw. 

But, my friends, is the bigness of heaven 
any barrier to recognition in heaven? No, 
verily, for this reason: God up there is in 
charge of all the natural and spiritual forces 
that exist ; and that being true all distance and 
difficulty in the way of communication is ab- 
solutely and forever removed. 

Why, think of it! even with our imperfect 
knowledge, the other day when the Titantic 
struck that iceberg the wireless operator called 
out his "C. Q. D." and it struck another ship, 
and she went with relief to the disaster and 
saved many of the passengers. Have you 
thought where that "C. Q. D." traveled? Do 
you suppose it traveled on a beeline for that 
ship ? It knew not that ship. No, that call for 
help traversed the whole space above us ; it cir- 
cled every star that twinkles in the heavens, 
and touched the borders of all countries and 
all climes and all lands. All this it did the mo- 

45 



raent that it struck the ship ! Mars received it 
as early as the ship received it ! There is no 
distance where God is in control ! 

We hear with the nearness of breathing. 
Oh, if Q-od could do all this with the imperfect 
faculties of man, and operating through the 
imperfect brain of man, what can He do when 
all things are perfect, and that which is im- 
perfect is done away ! 

Then again, there are those who say they can 
not accept heavenly recognition, though they 
believe in heaven, because it is too beautiful 
as described in the Scriptures. They would be 
lost in the beauty of heaven, and would not 
know those that had gone on before. 

Here, again I admit that heaven is pictured 
as the most beautiful sight that man ever look- 
ed upon. If you read again the Revelation 
letter you will see it, John says after he has 
had a peep at it (I fancy when he got through 
describing it he thought the picture so imper- 
fect that he threw his pen aside and said, "It 
is no use!") "The city was pure gold, like 
unto clear glass. And the foundations of the 

46 



wall of the city were garnished with all man- 
ner of precious stones." 

Oh, you women, who love fine jewelry, now 
listen! "The first foundation was jasper; the 
second, sapphire ; the third, a chalcedony ; the 
fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the 
sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the 
eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a 
chrysophasus ; the eleventh, a jacinth; the 
twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates 
were twelve pearls ; every several gate was of 
one pearl; and the street of the city was of 
pure gold, as it were transparent glass." 

Can you imagine anything more beautiful 
than that? I like beautiful jewelry. Some 
people think it is a sin to wear a diamond. I 
do not think so. I do not think that God Al- 
mighty ever made a thing that could flash so 
much beauty from its facets, and then re- 
garded it as a sin to use it. 

In my travels through Europe at different 
times I became interested in looking upon the 
crowns worn at different times by the crowned 
heads. But, oh, my friends, listen ! All those 

47 



jewels are as nothing in comparison with 
John's description of the beauties of heaven! 
You say, "It is figurative language." Let it 
be so. If it is, it is only because John could 
not find any sort of language to describe what 
he saw without using the figure. 

Think of it ! Think of its light. Each of those 
jewels flashing its light into the facet of the 
other. The emerald, the topaz, the amethyst 
exchanging their light, until after a while as 
the result of the exchange the whole heaven is 
lit up with a glory surpassing the glory of ten 
thousand sunsets. 

But this beauty is in no way a barrier to me. 
Not at all. What is beauty without someone 
to share it with ? What is beauty in compari- 
son with love ? One look into the face of my 
sainted mother will reveal more beauty than 
all the glories that John ever saw. 

Then again, there are those who say to us, 
Recognition in heaven is not possible because 
heaven is a place of spirits and spirits are not 
recognizable. 

48 



Who said spirits are not recognizable? 
Were not Moses and Elias recognized when 
they stood on the Mount of Transfiguration? 
The form of the spirit is the character we 
possess. Every day that we live and move on 
this earth we form our spirits. We are creat- 
ing a personality that is as immortal as our 
souls. And on through the great endless ages 
of eternity a man's spirit will partake of the 
nature of his personality. 

But I must not stop there, but pass on to a 
still larger class, and a more important one. 
I speak now of the class that believe in heaven, 
and have a hope that after a while we shall 
recognize those that have gone on before. Be- 
lieving that, they cry out for all the light that 
can possibly be brought to bear upon the 
strengthening of their faith. 

If we come back into the Old Testament 
Scriptures we find that Moses when he died 
was " gathered to his people." And the same 
expression is used with reference to the de- 
parture of many of the old patriarchs and 
saints. These ancient people believed that 

49 



when these men departed this earth they went 
up with their people, with those they had 
known and labored with on earth, and that 
they would know them. 

Then come to the New Testament Scrip- 
tures, and we find ourselves at once confronted 
with J esus and His three disciples and Moses 
and Elias on the Mount of Transfiguration. 
There is Jesus metamorphosed, the glory of 
Grod shining through Him : Peter, J ames and 
John beheld it, and recognized in that presence 
Moses the representative of the law, and Elias 
the representative of the prophets, and as 
Peter recognized the presence of these two pa- 
triarchs, who had been dead hundreds of years, 
he said to Jesus: "It is good to be here!" 
Why of course it was! "Let us build three 
tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and 
one for Elias.' ' 

You remember how Jesus answered him. 
But we are not dealing with the answer of 
Jesus, but with the recognition of Moses and 
Elias. 

50 



How did the disciples recognize Moses and 
Elias if they had not a form ? There is no evi- 
dence that they were introduced to them. 
There was some peculiar method of manifesta- 
tion of the spirit of each of these men that at 
once convinced these disciples that they were 
in the presence of those patriarchs. And my 
friends, if they could recognize men whom 
they had never seen, why should not we enter- 
tain the same hope that we shall be able to 
recognize at least those that we have seen ? 

And again, unless heavenly recognition is 
possible, we have got to destroy memory, and 
memory as we know from a strictly psycho- 
logical standpoint is absolutely non-destructi- 
ble. 

Let us look on that picture, drawn by our 
Lord, of Dives in hell. When he recognized 
that he was in hell, and began to suffer its tor- 
ments, he prayed, "Send Lazarus that he may 
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my 
tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." 
But you remember what the answer was: 
"Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime re- 
si 



ceivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like 
manner evil things.' ' 

Memory is still clinging to him. "Remem- 
ber!" Remember what? He remembered 
Abraham and Lazarus, he remembered his im- 
portunity, he remembered what he himself had 
possessed, he remembered his brethren, he re- 
membered God. All this memory still clinging 
to him though he writhed in the torments of 
hell; and if that be true of a man in hell, don't 
you think it is true likewise of a man in 
heaven; that his memory will remain with 
him? 

Again friends, if there be no recognition in 
heaven the sweetest hopes of life are de- 
stroyed; that of seeing people that have been 
dear, and good, and kind and helpful. One 
of my dearest hopes is that I may meet father 
and mother in heaven. 

Then again, if there is no such thing as 
heavenly recognition the testimony of the de- 
parted saints of God are of no avail, and are 
untrue. 

52 



Will you pardon me for this personal testi- 
mony'? It comes to me so that I can not re- 
frain from speaking of it though it is so per- 
sonal and sacred. It is one of the oases of my 
life. A few years ago I was engaged at North- 
field, Mass., at the summer conference. I was 
delivering some addresses there. One day I 
was to deliver an address at twelve o 'clock. A 
great crowd had gathered, and as I walked into 
the auditorium Mr. W. R. Moody handed me 
a telegram. I opened it, and it was a telegram 
from my brother who had gone to Raleigh, the 
capital of North Carolina, to my father's bed- 
side. That telegram read, "Father is dying, 
come home." Mr. Moody said, "I will relieve 
you from preaching." I said, "I do not want 
to be relieved. I can not get a train until 
night, and I would rather be standing here 
talking to men about meeting God while my 
father passes away." 

When I arrived home my brother said, "I 
am glad you have got here, it won't be long." 
Then someone told me to look in a certain 
pocket in a certain garment of his and find a 

53 



X 



sacred treasure. I had no idea what it was, 
but I found it presently, wrapped in a chamois 
skin. It was a Confederate soldier's Cross of 
Honor, given to men who had distinguished 
themselves in that great war between the 
States — my father had kept it. 

With that Cross of Honor I stood there and 
waited till long past night. His breath came 
shorter and shorter, and after a while his eyes 
were fixed, and there came a smile over his 
face — a smile so characteristic of him when he 
had suddenly discovered something of special 
interest. I had seen it many a time in my life. 
Broader and broader this smile became, until 
after a while he passed away. 

You say, "I can not believe there was any- 
thing of value in this." Then you can have no 
weight with me. I would not give that mo- 
ment in my father's presence, as he passed 
away, for all your science and speculations. I 
believe he saw something. Perhaps it was my 
mother. Oh, God be thanked for the hope ! "I 
shall go to him, but he shall not come to me." 

54 



" A human soul went forth into the night, 

Shutting behind it death's mysterious door. 
And shaking off with strange, resistless might 

The dust that once it wore. 
So swift its flight, so suddenly it sped — 

As when by skilful hand a bow is bent 
The arrow flies — those watching round the bed 

Marked not the way it went. 

" Heavy with grief, their aching, tear-dimmed 
eyes 

Saw the shadow fall, and knew not when 
Or in what fair or unfamiliar guise 

It left the world of men. 
It broke from sickness, that with iron bands 

Had bound it fast for many a grievous day ; 
And love itself, with its restraining hands, 

Might not its course delay. 

"Through the clear silence of the moonless 
dark, 

Leaving no footprint on the road it trod, 
Straight as an arrow cleaving to its mark 

The soul went home to God. 
' Alas!' they cried, 4 he never saw the morn. 

But fell asleep outwearied with the strife. ' 
Nay, rather, he arose and met the dawn 

Of everlasting life." 



§5 



WILL THIS BODY LIVE AGAIN f 



II Corinthians iv:14. — ''Knowing that He which raised up the 
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present 
us with you." 

Philippians iii:21. — "Who shall change our vile body, that it 
may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to 
the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things 
unto Himself." 



CHAPTER III. 
Will This Body Live Again? 

IN" presenting this subject I am well aware 
of the fact that there are many people that 
deny the resurrection of the body, and 
deny it purely on the ground that it is contrary 
to reason. And yet these same good people ac- 
cept many things occurring in everyday life, 
quite as unreasonable, and perhaps more so 
than the resurrection of the body. 

I used to hear my father tell a story many 
years ago, of a dear old minister who lived in 
the mountain regions of our State. He had 
never had the advantages of school; he knew 
only one book, but knew that well, and that was 
his Bible. By some means he got elected to the 
State legislature, and came to the capitol. At 
night he would generally gather congregations 
around him and preach to them. 

In that body there was a young lawyer, and 
he was constantly chaffing this old country 
preacher about his religion. Finally the old 
preacher preached on the resurrection one 
evening, and the young lawyer heard his ser- 

59 



mon. After it was over they were seated in 
front of their hotel, and just across the street 
was a beautiful green spot and on it there were 
some geese and pigs. The young lawyer finally 
turned to the country preacher and said, " And 
you believe that this body of yours is going to 
be raised again ?" And the preacher said, 
" Yes, that is exactly what I believe." "Well, 
I don't." "Why don't you?" "I don't be- 
lieve it because it is contrary to human rea- 
son," was his reply. "Well, what if it is?" 
the old preacher replied. "Well," he said, "I 
can not receive anything that I can not reason 
out. " "Is that so ? " said the old man, looking 
across the street: "Well, you see those geese 
over there." "Yes." "You see those pigs." 
"Yes." "Well, what are they eating?" "The 
geese? why they are eating the grass." "The 
pigs?" "They are eating grass." "Same 
grass?" said the old preacher. "Yes, same 
grass." "Do you believe that?" "Yes." 
"Well, can you explain to me how that grass 
makes feathers on a goose, and hair on a pig?" 

60 



"No," he said, "I can not." "No, I didn't 
think you could — you believe it though." 

And there are many people that I run up 
with throughout the world that are just like 
that young lawyer. They perhaps have not 
been run down and made to acknowledge their 
defeat, but there they are. We accept things 
every day that we can not understand for the 
life of us, and we do try. 

Where is there a man that can explain his 
own physical body? This body of ours is the 
most wonderful and marvelous thing that the 
world has ever grappled with. Who can ex- 
plain his nervous system? Why, here in this 
body is a complete telephone system, with a 
central office up in the head, and a thousand 
and one sub-stations scattered throughout the 
body, and wires run so that if I touch my fin- 
ger to anything a message is sent to the head 
office and back before I can think. 

So, when we come to face this doctrine of 
the resurrection, we do not have to rely on our 
reason, thank God ! and we do not want to. We 
have the Bible, and as long as we have the 

61 



Jesus, and that to a company of men. And yet 
there are people to-day who say that women 
must keep silence always when men are 
around! Jesus paid a great compliment to 
woman when He gave her the place to bear 
first witness concerning the resurrection of 
His body. 

The next witness was that which the dis- 
ciples were privileged to bear in the Upper 
Room ; they had gathered there to discuss mat- 
ters. Mary had informed them about the res- 
urrection, but they were not able to take it in, 
and there they were discussing it. They were 
also afraid of the Jews : and J esus appeared in 
their midst. 

He did so as I see it for three things. First, 
to assure them of His resurrection; second, 
to comfort them, and third, that He might in- 
struct them as to their future work. When 
they saw Him in their midst they were ignor- 
ant as to who He was. They were very much 
I excited ; Jesus could not assure them, or com- 
fort them, or instruct them until they were 
quieted: and so He said, 6 ' Peace be unto you." 

64 



Then He showed them His hands and His feet. 
And when they recognized Him they got to 
shouting with joy I have no doubt: and He 
said again, " Peace, be still ... as My 
Father hath sent Me, even so send I you ;" and 
then He departed. 

The next time it is the disciples on the shore 
of Tiberias that saw Him. Jesus is out walk- 
ing on the coast whilst the disciples are out 
fishing, and they have been out all night and 
caught nothing. Jesus calls to them, and says, 
"Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and 
ye shall find. " J ohn saw that it was Jesus and 
told Peter, and he at once cast himself into the 
sea and went to J esus. 

I have heard many a sermon on Peter's act 
of faith, and his great love for the Lord on 
that occasion. But I would rather be John 
and the rest of that company than Peter, who 
would, leave off fishing and leap off the boat, 
and leave the rest to take care of the boat while 
he engaged in the more spectacular form of 
worship. It is one thing to have faith, and 
another to be faithful. 

65 



that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou 
shalt be saved.' ' Here the Apostle is putting 
faith in the resurrection forward as a part of 
the faith essential to salvation. And I am 
quite sure that we have not put proper stress 
on the resurrection. I am quite sure that in 
our preaching of the plan of salvation we have 
not placed stress on the doctrine of the resur- 
rection of our Lord. 

But there is something else I want to say 
about it : There is also in the resurrection of 
J esus Christ the assurance of the resurrection 
of our own body, and of its identification. Our 
text declares, "That He who raised up Jesus 
from the dead, shall raise up us also by Jesus." 
"Who shall change our vile body that it may 
be fashioned like unto His glorious body." 
What a blessed hope ! 

Some time ago I buried one of the sweetest 
and most beautiful little girls I ever saw. I 
remember, as we stood by the open grave and 
put her body in, the mother looked into my 
eyes as wistfully as a mother ever looked, and 
said, "Oh, Pastor, tell me, honest, do you 

68 



think I shall ever look upon that precious little 
form again?" I was so glad, beloved, that I 
could look her in the eye with an honest heart, 
and say, "Yes, I honestly believe with all my 
heart that you will see that precious form in 
the day of the resurrection." "Then I shall 
never fear" she said, as she reached forth her 
hand and took mine in hers; "Oh, thank God 
for that hope!" 

And how many of us have at some time been 
able to say the same thing: "Thank God for 
that hope!" Have you ever been carried 
through some experience like that? If you 
have then you know something of what this 
hope means. 

There is a story told of a missionary, that 
on one occasion he was preaching on the res- 
urrection, and in his congregation there were 
a number of heathen listening to his message ; 
and among them there was one chief who was 
a vicious man. As the missionary preached 
he was very disturbed, and was given an oppor- 
tunity af er the address was over to see the mis- 
sionary, and he said, "Do I understand you, 

69 



. i i 



said, "Oh, I am so glad to see you, I never ex- 
pected you would come, and I want to tell you 
that I am so happy. I hate to leave my family, 
but I am so happy ! I wanted you to come that 
I might tell you about it. You remember my 
little girl?" "Yes," said I, "Well!" "She 
died two or three years ago, it was a terrible 
death." "Well," she continued, "last night I 
was lying here on this bed, I felt something 
fan my brow; I looked up — you may think 
this was just a fancy, but it was real to me — 
and I saw something like a veil ; after a while 
it passed away, and I saw her sweet, smiling 
face, and I looked at her for a moment, and I 
said, 6 Darling, is it you?' And she said, 
mother, it won't be long,' then she passed 
away." 

Oh, as God is my judge, I would rather have 
simple faith like that woman than to have all 
the philosophies of the world to fling out to 
men. God be praised for the hope of the res- 
urrection of the body, of my loved ones, my 
friends, and all. 

72 



"Our dead — I can not call them so, 

The loved ones gone before — 
A fuller life than this they know 
Beyond the shadowy shore. 

"The implements of earthly toil 
Their hands have laid aside, 
To wield far mightier forces 
In the realms where they abide. 

"Their eyes behold the glory of 
The lamb upon the Throne ; 
They catch the echo of His praise, 
And it rings from zone to zone. 

"They know their dark Gtethsemane — 

Those dearly loved of ours ; 
But bravely strove to hide their cross 
Beneath life's fairest flowers. 

"Now, methinks, the Lethian waters 

Have borne their trials away. 
And the sunlight of His pesence 

Banished earth clouds dark and gray. 

"And the joys of life eternal, 
In the heavenly mansions fair, 
Throughout the unending ages, 
With our Savior dear, they share." 



71 



CHAPTER IV. 



Coming Again With Jesus. 

"T will come perhaps at morning, 
I — I When to simply live is sweet, 
JL -LWhen the arm is strong, unwearied 
By the noonday toil and heat ; 
When the undimmed eye looks tearless 

Up the shining heights of life, 
And the eager soul is panting, 
Yearning for some noble strife. 

"He will come perhaps at evening, 

Gray and sombre is the sky, 
Clouds around the sunset gather, 

Pull and dark the shadows lie ; 
When we long for rest and slumber, 

And some tender thoughts of home 
Pill the heart with vague, sad yearning, 

Then perhaps the Lord will come. 

"If He only find us ready, 

In the morning's happy light, 
In the strong and fiery noontide, 

Or the coming of the night ; 
If He only find us waiting, 

Listening to His sudden call, 
Then His coming when we think not, 

Is the sweetest hope of all." 

As we begin this consideration I ask you to 
keep in mind the eleventh verse of the first 

77 



chapter of the Acts of the Apostles : " Ye men 
of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven ; 
this same Jesus who was received up from you 
into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye 
have seen Him go into heaven." 

What I hope to do in this connection is to 
present merely the general scope of our Lord's 
second coming, and the state of the dead at 
His coming. 

There are three great (comings) prophecies 
in the Scripture. First is the coming of J esus 
as the sin-bearer of the world, and with refer- 
ence to that general prophecy we have first the 
prophecy concerning the fact of His coming, 
but I am not going to give you at this time 
more than one of these, that found in Genesis 
3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee 
and the woman ; and between thy seed and her 
seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou 
shalt bruise his heel." 

Here we have, immediately following the 
transgression, a prophecy concerning the com- 
ing of Jesus as the sin-bearer, the one who is 
to atone for sin. It is true it is in faint out- 

78 



line, but it is there, and from the time that 
that prophecy was given, all along down 
through the Old Testament period, prophets 
prophesied concerning this same Jesus who 
was coming to take the sinner's place and pay 
the penalty for sin. And not only did we have 
the fact of His coming clearly prophesied but 
the manner of His coming likewise clearly ful- 
filled; " Behold a virgin shall conceive, and 
bear a son, and shall call His name Emman- 
uel." 

Then we have the place of His birth prophe- 
sied ; Micah 5 :2. "But thou, Bethlehem, Eph- 
ratah, though thou be little among the thou- 
sands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come 
forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; 
whose goings forth have been from old, from 
everlasting." Also the conduct of the people: 
Isa. 60:6. "The multitude of camels shall 
cover thee. The dromedaries of Midian and 
Ephah ; all they from Sheba shall come ; they 
shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall 
shew forth the praises of the Lord." 

79 



And then we have the minute details of 
His life prophesied, and I am here going to 
run through briefly the points in the prophe- 
cies of the Old Testament Scriptures regard- 
ing many of the details of the life of our Lord. 

Sold for 30 pieces of silver. Zech. 11 :12. 

A potter's field bought with the proceeds. 
Zech. 11:13. 

Spit upon and scourged. Isa. 50 :6. 

Gall and vinegar to drink. Psa. 69 :21. 

Taunted with non-deliverance by God. Psa. 
22:8. 

Mocked at. Psa. 22:7. 

Hands and feet pierced. Psa. 22:16. 

Despised and rejected. Isa. 53:3. 

Opened not His mouth. Isa. 53 :7. 

Moved from court to court. Isa. 53 :8. 

His grave with the wicked, and with a rich 
man in his death, although He had done no 
violence. Isa. 53 :9. 

Bruised of God, and made an offering for 
sin. Isa. 53 :10. 

Now I want to call your attention to this 
fact in connection with these prophecies : You 

80 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




GALLERY OP SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




— 



will see that every one of them has had a literal 
fulfillment in the first coming of Jesus Christ. 
I think you will see as I proceed further why 
I put emphasis upon their literal fulfillment. 

The second great coming we find prophesied 
in the Old Testament Scriptures is that of the 
Holy Ghost. Joel 2:28-29. " And it shall come 
to pass that I will pour out My Spirit upon all 
flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, 
your young men shall see visions: And also 
upon the servants and upon the handmaids in 
those days will I pour out My Spirit.' 7 

Now, the next great coming is the coming 
again of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, to 
reign upon this earth, where He was despised, 
and rejected and crucified. And here again I 
want to call your attention to a few of the 
most striking prophecies concerning this sec- 
ond coming. 

First we have the fact of His second com- 
ing prophesied by Himself . John 14:3: "And 
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 

81 



again and receive you unto Myself ; that where 
I am ye may be also. ' ' 

Then again we have the manner of His com- 
ing prophesied. Matthew 24:30. "The Son 
of man shall come in the clouds with power 
and great glory. And He shall send His angels 
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall 
gather together His elect from the four winds, 
from one end of heaven to the other." 

Again the purpose of His coming is clearly 
prophesied. Isaiah 9:7: "Of the increase of 
His government and of peace there shall be no 
end, upon the throne of David, and upon His 
kingdom to establish it, and to uphold it with 
justice and with righteousness from hence- 
forth even forever." But I need not go on 
giving Scripture, no one can read his Bible 
and not see the second coming. 

Now what are we to conclude from all this 
array of Scripture; from these prophecies in 
the Old Testament and in the New ; from what 
we have read concerning the first coming of 
Christ, and from what we have read concern- 
ing His second coming? This we are to con- 

82 



elude, it seems to me, very clearly : That since 
the prophecies concerning the first coming of 
Christ have been so literally fulfilled, and since 
the prophecies relating to the coming of the 
Holy Ghost have been so literally fulfilled, so 
we should expect that these prophecies con- 
cerning the second coming shall likewise be lit- 
erally fulfilled. 

And if it be a literal coming we must con- 
clude that Jesus is coming back to this earth, 
just as he left it, only He is coming in glory 
to reign, with His saints who will accompany 
Him, on this earth, freed from the control of 
satan, for a period of a thousand years. 

Let us come back and get our place with 
those disciples on Mount Olivet, when our 
Lord appeared to them for the last time. 
There we find Him surrounded by His dis- 
ciples : He has appeared to them a number of 
times prior to this since His resurrection : He 
comes now for this last time — they are not 
aware that it is the last time, but are thor- 
oughly prepared by what has taken place to 

83 



believe anything; and there they stand, ex- 
pecting any strange thing to take place. 

They are without a doubt gathered to get 
every word that falls from the lips of Jesus, 
and to understand everything that He has to 
say to them about His future work and their 
future work. And as they stand there in per- 
fect silence, with bated breath, listening to the 
precious words of Jesus, a very strange thing 
takes place: He begins to ascend, and right 
out of their midst He goes. And they are so 
struck with it that they do not speak a word — 
if they did it has never been recorded, and no 
wonder they are speechless; they simply fix 
their eyes on Him and follow Him as He goes 
up, and on beyond the clouds : On and on He 
goes until He is a speck in the sky ; then on and 
out of sight. 

And these disciples were still standing gaz- 
ing up into the space through which He had 
gone, when an angel appeared, saying, "Ye 
men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into 
heaven? this same Jesus who was raised up 
from you into heaven shall come in like man- 

84 



ner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' ' Oh, 
what a comforting note that was to the dis- 
ciples ! No wonder they lived the rest of their 
lives expecting that Jesus would very likely 
come at any time ; they had been told so. He 
Himself had taught them while He was with 
them, though they did not understand then; 
but now, fresh from His throne of glory He 
sends back this message — 6 1 This same Jesus — 
shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him 
go into heaven.' ' 

The question that we all naturally have beat- 
ing and throbbing in our minds just at this 
juncture is, when is this coming to take place ? 
I am very glad to tell you that I do not know, 
and I am sure I know as much as anybody else 
about it. 

If there is any one class of teachers that I 
want you to get your back turned upon it is the 
men and women, who, while teaching the doc- 
trine of the Lord's second coming, venture 
into the business of fixing dates. We do not 
know ; not even the angels in heaven know. It 
begins to get serious when a man begins to fix 

85 



dates for the Lord to corne. I do not know, 
and I am glad I do not. I can only try to live 
day by day so that I shall be ready. He may 
come again before we get through with this; 
I would not be surprised. 

In studying the prophecies as I have tried to 
do, I have come to believe that this dispensa- 
tion is in the evening of its existence. I give 
it to you for what it is worth, I do not know 
anything as to the time when the affairs of the 
world are to be wound up and the new order to 
issue forth ; but I say again, it does look like 
to me that we are passing toward the sunset, 
and I should not be surprised if our Lord 
should come. 

I am not expecting the world to be converted 
before Jesus comes. That is to say, we are 
not to wait and wait until this age is brought 
to a culmination and the millennium has spent 
itself before we may expect Jesus. If we had 
to wait until the millennium spent itself there 
would be no use for saying, "Watch ye there- 
fore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth 

86 



come," for certainly we are not anywhere near 

the millennium. 

There is not a spot on this earth — scarcely 
one big enough for your feet to rest on — that 
the Lord has His way with. Where is there a 
place where the Lord is ruling to-day as He 
does in heaven ? even in your heart or mine I 
Why, the millennium is Jesus ruling as He 
rules in heaven. Do you know any place 
where He is ruling like that ? Is He ruling in 
any spot like that ? 

Oh, I thank God that we are not to wait un- 
til the world is converted before we can ex- 
pect to see Jesus in all of His reigning glory 
and power. Thank God, the church was never 
commanded to save the world, it was com- 
manded to witness for Jesus and gather out, 
through Him, a people from among the peo- 
ples of the earth, for His name; and we are 
doing that to-day. We have never been told 
that we have got to do the work of winning 
this world to Christ. I thank God that we 
have not. Men sometimes talk to me as if my 
faith is of the pessimistic kind. It is the only 

87 



optimism I know anything about. They un- 
derstand the Church of Christ as conquering 
the world, enthroning J esus in all parts of the 
earth. But we are not told to expect this be- 
fore He comes. We are told to be witnesses. 
We are told to gather out this people for Him. 
This is our task. And to that task we have 
set ourselves, and to that task I pray the 
church may give herself more actively than 
ever before. For when the Bride of Christ is 
prepared, rest assured Jesus is coming. 

Yes, one reason why I say that we are not 
to expect the world to be saved before He 
comes is what Jesus Himself says: 1 6 As it 
was in the days of Noah before the flood they 
were eating and drinking, marrying and giv- 
ing in marriage ... so shall also the com- 
ing of the Son of Man be." "Then shall two 
be in the field ; the one shall be taken and the 
other left. Two women shall be grinding at 
the mill ; the one shall be taken and the other 
left." 

If all are to be converted before the coming 
of the Lord, why are any left ? The w T hole of 

88 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




PREPARING THE BODY OF CHRIST FOR BURIAL 
Luke 23 : 50—56 



the teaching of the Scriptures as I see it, bears 
out the idea that Jesus Himself is to come, 
when the bride is made ready; and then He 
will take charge of the reins of the world and 
will lead that great revival that shall bring a 
nation to Him in a day. No wonder John, ban- 
ished upon the island of Patmos with this vis- 
ion of things says, "Even so come Lord Jesus, 
come quickly," and we all say "Amen!" 

But there is another thing I want to call 
your attention to — the programme of His com- 
ing. We get it when we read the Thessalonian 
letter. 

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalo- 
nian Christians who had heard some things 
about the second coming, says, "For the Lord 
Himself shall descend with a shout (here is 
the programme), with the voice of the arch- 
angel, and with the trump of Q-od: and the 
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which 
are alive and remain shall be -caught up to- 
gether with them in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with 
the Lord." 

89 



What is the programme ? First, the coming 
of the Lord; then the voice of the archangel 
and the trump of God ; then the dead in Christ 
shall rise first ; then we that are alive shall be 
caught up with them in the clouds to meet the 
Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with 
the Lord. 

But where is Jesus during all this? He is 
in the clouds ; He is not yet come to the earth, 
He has only come for His saints, not with 
them. That is to occur later. This meeting of 
the resurrected, righteous dead, and all the 
changed righteous living, when the Lord 
comes, is followed by the Bridal Supper, when 
the bride and the bridegroom get together. 
Jesus is the bridegroom, the church is the 
bride, and here is the coming together of the 
bride and the bridegroom. 

Now, the question is, how long are they to 
stay together? We are not told. I do not 
know. To talk is speculative. Here in the 
clouds Jesus and His bride meet. And then 
what ? We come over into John to get the re- 
maining part of this remarkable story; "And 

90 



I saw an angel come down from heaven having 
the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain 
in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, 
that old serpent which is the devil, and bound 
him a thousand years. And cast him into the 
bottomless pit, and shut him up and set a seal 
upon him, that he should deceive the nations 
no more." 

Oh, God knows how many times I have come 
to that twentieth chapter of Revelation for 
comfort ! To my mind it presents this picture : 
Jesus with His bride in the clouds celebrating 
the Bridal Supper ; naturally enough He pro- 
poses to bring her back to this earth, to the old 
home, to where she spent her childhood, to 
where she has lived in sorrow and sadness; 
back here to this earth. But He can not bring 
her back till something takes place. He can 
not bring her back under conditions like that, 
and so He dispatches an angel to rid the world 
of the devil before His bride is brought back. 

I can see the angel sent from God, charged 
with the task of arresting the devil ! I can see 
the tussle ! Oh, we talk glibly sometimes about 

91 



whipping the devil, and driving him out of the 
town or community. But the devil will never 
be finally defeated until Jesus comes. But by 
the authority of God, the angel himself shall 
arrest him and seal him in the pit — never until 
then will we get rid of the devil. 

I heard a man at one of my meetings not 
long ago give testimony and say, "I have 
reached the place, thank God, where I am 
never troubled or tempted by the devil." I 
said to him, "You have made the most humil- 
iating statement I ever heard a man make. 
You have got to the place where you never 
have any tussle with the devil? By that you 
mean to say that you have got so worthless, 
that the devil does not want you!" 

So long as there is any good left in you the 
devil is going to make a fight for it I So long 
as there is a single solitary thing in all your 
life that the devil can take and use, he is going 
to fight for it. But I thank God there is com- 
ing a time when the devil, the arch-enemy of 
man, is going to be arrested and locked up. 

92 



Then what happens 1 Then comes J esus, ac- 
cording to John, with His bride back to earth, 
back here to live and reign with Him. Oh, 
thank God for the hope I have of being in that 
company ! I want to see the time when I can 
look on this old world without its stain, blotted 
and blurred by sin. 

I think that this was a beautiful world when 
God first made it, and flung it from His fingers 
and put man on it. It is beautiful now ; I love 
this world ; but oh ! how much more beautiful 
it was that morning of the first creation ; that 
day when the first man looked out upon it with 
no sin ! I want to look upon this world in its 
Edenic purity and beauty. I want to hear the 
birds as it seems to me they must have sung 
that day when first God planted man upon the 
earth. I want to look into the faces of men 
and women without any evil atmosphere 
through which to look. I want to see them just 
as they are: pure and holy. I expect, thank 
God, to be in that crowd, and I expect to see 
this world in all of its beauty, with the devil 
locked in the pit, and to be all through this 

93 



period of reign with J esus, shouting praises to 
His name as I see His chariot travel the world. 
To me it means something to be a Christian: 
there is something ahead, something that I can 
look forward to, something that nerves me 
when I get weak, that lifts me when I am 
clown, that fires me when my spirits are low. 
It is the thought of the things that are to come 
that can only be hinted at in the Scriptures. 

Now, if it be true that Jesus is coming back, 
He is liable to come back at any time. If it be 
true that when He comes He is going to resur- 
rect the righteous dead, take up the righteous 
living to celebrate the Marriage Feast in the 
clouds, and then return and take hold of the 
reins of government and govern the universe 
as He governs heaven, if all this be true ; then 
there are three questions that every man and 
woman should ask. First, "Am I right?" 
Second, "Is my business right? Would I be 
willing to stand by and see my books open and 
let His searching eye flash across the pages?" 
Third, 6 ' Are my loved ones right ? ' ' Oh, do we 
love them, are they dear to our heart? How 

94 



can we then be so indifferent to their salva- 
tion ? Surely if we believe these things we will 
do our best to be ready and have all we love 
ready. God grant it may be so. 



95 



EVEN SO. 



CHAPTER V. 

"Even So." 

" T"T may be in the evening, 

When the work of the day is done, 
JL And you have time to sit in the twilight 

And watch the sinking sun, 
While the long bright day dies slowly 
Over the sea, 

And the hours grow quiet and holy 

With thoughts of Me; 

While you hear the village children 

Passing along the street, 

Among those thronging footsteps 

May come the sound of My feet. 

Therefore, I tell you, watch, 

By the light of the evening star, 

When the room is growing dusky 

As the clouds afar ; 

Let the door be on the latch 

In your home, 

For it may be through the gloaming 
I will come. 

"It may be when the midnight 
Is heavy upon the land, 
And the black waves lying dumbly 
Along the sand ; 

When the moonless night draws close, 
And the lights are out in the house ; 
When the fire burns low and red, 
And the watch is ticking loudly 
Beside the bed. 

99 



Though you sleep, tired out, on your couch, 

Still your heart must wake and watch 

In the dark room, 

For it may be that at midnight 

I will come. 

"It may be at the cockcrow, 
When the night is dying slowly 
In the sky, 

And the sea looks calm and holy, 

Waiting for the dawn 

Of the golden sun, 

Which draweth nigh ; 

When the mists are on the valleys, shading 

The rivers chill, 

And My morning-star is fading, fading 
Over the hill: 

Behold, I say unto you, Watch ; 
Let the door be on the latch 
In your home ; 

In the chill before the dawning, 
Between the night and morning, 
I may come. 

"It may be in the morning, 
When the sun is bright and strong, 
And the dew is glittering sharply 
Over the little lawn ; 
When the waves are laughing loudly 
Along the shore, 

And the little birds are singing sweetly 
About the door ; 

100 



With the long day's work before you, 

You rise up with the sun, 

And the neighbors come in to talk a little 

Of all that must be done ; 

But remember that I may be the next 

To come in at the door, 

To call you from your busy work 

Forever more. 

As you work your heart must watch, 
For the door is on the latch 
In your room, 

And it may be in the morning 
I will come." 

So He passed down my cottage garden, 
By the path that leads to the sea, 
Till he came to the turn of the little road 
Where the birch and laburnum tree 
Lean over, and arch the way ; 
There I saw Him a moment stay. 
And turn once more to me, 
As I wept at the cottage door, 
And lift up His hands in blessing — 
Then I saw His face "no more." 

And I stood still in the doorway, 
Leaning against the wall, 
Not heeding the fair white roses, 
Though I crushed them and let them fall ; 
Only looking down the pathway, 
And looking towards the sea, 

101 



And wondering, and wondering 
When He would come back for me, 
Till I was aware of an angel 
Who was going swiftly by, 
With the gladness of one who goeth 
In the light of God most high. 

He passed the end of the cottage 

Towards the garden gate, 

(I suppose he was come down 

At the setting of the sun 

To comfort someone in the village 

Whose dwelling was desolate), 

And he paused before the door 

Beside my place, 

And the likeness of a smile 

Was on his face : 

"Weep not," he said, "for unto you is given 

To watch for the coming of His feet 

Who is the glory of our blessed heaven. 

The work and watching will be very sweet, 

Even in an earthly home, 

And in such an hour as ye think not 

He will come." 

So I am watching quietly 
Every day. 

Whenever the sun shines brightly, 
I rise and say, 

"Surely it is the shining of His face," 

102 



And look into the gates of His high place 
Beyond the sea, 

For I know He is coming shortly 
To summon me. 

And when a shadow falls across the window 
Of my room, 

Where I am working my appointed task, 
I lift my head to watch the door, and ask 
If He is come; 

And the angel answers sweetly, 
In my home, 

"Only a few more shadows, 
And he will come." 



103 



TEE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 



Rom. xi: 26-27. — "All Israel shall 
There shall come out of Zion 
away ungpdliness from Jacob, 
them, when I shall take aioay 



be saved. As it is written, 
the Deliverer who shall turn 
For this is My covenant unto 
their sins." 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Restoration of Israel. 

I SPECIALLY lay emphasis upon the first 
clause in this text, "All Israel shall be 
saved." It will be seen here that the 
Apostle is taking this text from Isaiah. The 
first part of the text is taken from Isa. 59 :20- 
27, and the last part of the text is taken from 
Isa. 29:9. The Apostle, quoting from Isaiah 
in these two sections, uses the quotation as an 
epitome of the teaching of this whole eleventh 
chapter of Romans. 

The theme of the eleventh chapter, as will 
be easily seen, is The Restoration of Israel. 
In the first part of the chapter, the apostle is 
giving himself to a review of the teaching of 
the ninth and tenth chapters in which he 
sets forth very clearly the rejection of 
Israel; and there are three things which 
are declared in this brief review of the 
teaching of those two preceding chapters. 
First, that the rejection of Israel is a 
national and not an individual rejection. 
The nation Israel, for whom God has done so 

107 



very much, has turned its back upon Jesus 
Christ, the promised Messiah, and, having 
turned its back upon Him, God gave them up 
to their unbelief, and the nation Israel went to 
pieces, and is to pieces until this day, and will 
be until Jesus Christ comes the second time. 

And there is a good lesson in this for the na- 
tions of the earth to learn to-day. Many lose 
sight of the fact that the nations are judged by 
the same principles that individuals are judged 
by, and nations are rewarded and punished 
according to the same law of government that 
individuals are rewarded and punished by. It 
may take a long time for a nation to come to 
the place of appreciating the judgment of God 
upon it, for nations move very slowly. They 
are not like an individual. An individual may 
see the judgment of God and appreciate it 
very much more quickly than a nation which 
is made up of a number of individuals. But 
that does not change the fact that the judg- 
ment is as sure for the nation as for the indi- 
vidual. God is simply pledged to stand by the 
nation or the community or the individual that 

108 



stands by His Son Jesus Christ. On the other 
hand, the nation or the community or individ- 
ual that turns its back upon the Son of God 
may assuredly expect in time to come for God 
to turn His back upon them. 

Now, it is well for public men, and statesmen 
in particular, which have to do with the mak- 
ing of the laws that to a great extent control 
life, to observe this great fact. Statesmen may 
heed the popular cry that comes from all quar- 
ters to-day for the building of a society around 
money, or culture, or blood, or influence be- 
cause these things seem to embrace all that is 
fundamental in the making of society. But as 
certain as the nation or the community or the 
individual attempts to build a social structure 
around any other thing or all things put to- 
gether, it will certainly come to naught. Be- 
cause, these things are after all, of the flesh 
and to the flesh, and with the flesh they are 
bound to die. 

And then again, I would have us realize this, 
that not only was the nation of Israel rejected 
as a nation because of unbelief, and because of 

109 



refusal to construct its life and conduct to the 
teaching of J esus Christ, but also within the 
nation there were those then, and there are 
those at present who are being saved by the 
grace of Christ, just as among the peoples of 
any other nation or race ; and Paul says him- 
self, as an illustration of this great fact, that 
he was a J ew, a Jew of Jews, a child of Abra- 
ham and yet he was saved, while the nation 
Israel was in rejection. 

And so until this day, individual members 
within the nation of Israel, scattered as it is 
throughout the uttermost parts of the earth, 
are saved, and will continue to be saved. But 
as a nation, as a race, they are in a state of ab- 
solute rejection, and God has His back upon 
them. 

Then again, following this review of the re- 
jection given in the first part of the chapter, I 
want us to realize something of the force and 
power and the practical helpfulness of the 
teaching of the rest of the chapter concerning 
Israel's restoration, for there is a great deal 
of comfort and instruction in the restoration 

no 



promised to Israel. First, there is the resto- 
ration promised "So all Israel shall be saved.' ' 
Then there is the restoration programme. 
Both of these are contained in the text; "There 
shall come out of Zion a Deliverer. " 

And then, going back to verse twenty-five, 
we are told that the restoration of Israel to its 
former place of service is to take place when 
the fulness of the Gentiles is come. We are 
now living in the Gentile, or church period. 
The Jews are in a state of rejection. 

According to the programme of God Israel 
was trained and prepared to receive the Mes- 
siah, and not only to receive the Messiah, but 
to herald Him; and when the Messiah came, 
Israel turned its back upon Him, refused to 
receive Him, and failed to be the herald of 
Him, and the Gentiles received Him, and to 
them all the promises made to Israel for this 
period, fell, and Israel was put in rejection 
and remains in rejection while the Gentiles — 
the family represented in the South by the 
Hamites, and in the North by the J aphethites, 
these two additional branches of the human 

111 



race became the favored branches of the tree of 
the human family, and the Jew is still in re- 
jection. 

But there is coming a time, according to this 
teaching when the Gentile dispensation is com- 
ing to an end ; when the church shall have done 
its work in proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Sa- 
vior of the world ; and when the Gentile period, 
or church period of the world is at an end, 
then Israel will be restored, and she will take 
her rightful place as the favorite of God, pro- 
claiming the Messiah to a lost and ruined 
world. 

Now, we ma}^ say what we like about the 
Jew; we may jest about him and talk about 
him, but the Jew is nevertheless, still the fa- 
vorite son of Almighty God. He is a son in 
disobedience, he is reaping the punishment of 
disobedience, the punishment of rejection, be- 
cause he disobeyed, because he would not do 
the thing His father planned for him to do. 
He is being punished, he is in rejection, thrust 
out into the world to battle without Christ, as 
a race, as a nation. This is his punishment, 

112 



and that punishment will continue until the 
fulness of the Gentiles. Then God will say His 
punishment is enough! And then Israel, his 
pet child, will again come to the front, and all 
the promises of God to him will be fulfilled in 
him and through him to the glory of His name 
and the verification of His word. 

Now, the question for us, naturally, as we 
face this great future event is, when is the ful- 
ness of the Gentiles to be expected % I can not 
answer that question, for we must remember 
that there are certain great, grave — may I say 
— tremendous events that lie between our pres- 
ent day, and the day of the fulness of the Gen- 
tiles which is the day immediately preceding 
the restoration of Israel. 

Now, these tremendous events may all take 
place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 
so far as I know. I am not here to say about 
this. I do find what these great events are: 
and first of all, before we can expect the resto- 
ration of Israel, and consequently the fulness 
of the Gentiles to come to pass, there has got 
to be the revealing of the anti-christ. 

113 



Now, what the anti-christ is we do not know. 
Some say he is the Pope of Rome. Some say 
anti-christ is Mrs. Eddy, or Mrs. Besant : some 
say it is Mrs. Somebodyelse, and still some say 
it is Mr. Somebody. I do not know, and so far 
as I am concerned, I do not care. I know this ; 
that before the fulness of the Gentiles comes 
to pass, and before Israel is restored to her 
original place in the purposes of God, every- 
thing will be made plain, and all the world will 
know who anti-christ is. 

Then again, following the revealing of the 
anti-christ, we are told there is to be a resur- 
rection of the righteous dead. The resurrec- 
tion of the dead is a doctrine which is as 
clearly set forth in the New Testament as the 
Deity of Jesus Christ. There are two resur- 
rections, one as clearly set forth as the other. 

In the first place, there is the resurrection 
of the righteous dead, which resurrection pre- 
cedes the restoration of Israel ; and then there 
is the resurrection of the rest of the dead, 
which is at the end of the millennium and pre- 
cedes immediately the last great judgment. 

114 



Now, before we are to expect the restoration 
of Israel, we must first see the resurrection of 
the righteous dead, but whether this is to be a 
public exhibition or not, I am certainly not 
prepared to say. It may be in the quiet of the 
evening hour. It may be in the dead, sleepy 
hour of midnight. It may be in the quiet of the 
early morning. It may be in the midst of the 
busy hustle and bustle of the day ; it may be so 
that all human eyes shall see it ; it may be that 
no human eye will observe it save the eyes of 
those who are thus raised. Quietly, unobserved, 
the graves of the righteous dead may yield 
their dead. They may be given their spiritual 
bodies, and no one observe what is taking place. 
Yea, just as we are to-day, when we least ex- 
pect it, the trump of God may be heard by the 
ears of the sleeping righteous dead, to the ex- 
clusion of the ears of everybody else, and the 
graves may crack and their bodies come forth, 
I do not know. But it is to come. 

Then again, we are told that the righteous 
living are to be changed and they are to be 
given their spiritual bodies as the righteous 

115 



dead are given their spiritual bodies. Here 
again, I do not know whether it will be a quiet, 
private change, unobserved by the eyes of the 
world. That change, that metamorphosis that 
took place on the Mount of Transfiguration 
may be taking place in millions of bodies on 
the earth in such a way as that no human eye 
can observe it. It may be a quiet, silent 
change, preparatory for the other world. Of 
this, nobody but God can say. I do not know. 
But I know this, it is to come. 

And then we are told also that these changed 
ones, these resurrected, righteous ones, and the 
living righteous ones changed by God, will be 
caught up together with Him in the clouds. 
And again I do not know but that this will be 
quiet. It may not be so, but somehow it lends 
to its glory to fancy that it will be so. I do not 
know the programme of this ascension, how it 
is to be effected, but I can not help fancying 
it will be very much like the ascension of 
Enoch, whose ascension was unobserved with 
human eyes, who walked so high upon the peak 

116 



of God's privileges, that he made one more 
step and stepped into the glory. 

But somehow it is to come to pass. Jesus 
will call His bride home, and she will proceed 
beyond the dust and the mist, the turmoil and 
strife of life ; on and on, speeding across plains 
and streams and streamlets, and yet on farther 
beyond peak and cloud, and on, until at last, 
somewhere upon the green fields of an un- 
fallen world Jesus will receive His beloved 
bride for the great Marriage Supper of the 
Lamb. That is to take place at the fulness of 
the Gentiles. That is to take place before the 
restoration of Israel. 

But that is not all. There is to be a great 
persecution down here on the earth, when the 
church is gone up to be with her Lord. Such 
persecution as we can not describe. Even 
Daniel in that wonderful prophetic descrip- 
tion could not describe it. God grant that none 
of us may ever know about it. 

But that is not all. When the great Bridal 
Supper of the Lamb is over in the skies, Jesus 
proposes to come back to this earth with His 

117 



ascended Bride. But He can not come until 
this earth is made ready for His coming. She 
has been taken out of the sin, into the purity 
of the other world. She can not come back 
to sin. Hence the devil is to be chained; and 
an angel is sent with the responsibility of 
chaining the devil, and he does it 

Oh, I can not talk about this without my 
heart fills to the brim with the deepest emo- 
tion. What is it all for ? 

Two things stand out clearly in the teaching. 
First, it is to restore the disobedient pet child 
Israel. She has been punished long enough, 
and He must restore her, forgive her sins, as 
we saw in the text and restore her to her 
former place in His great economy for the 
proclamation of the Son of God. Then, the 
Gentiles are not rejected. They are there also 
in parallel lines. Israel is the son, and the 
favorite one according to the election of grace ; 
but the Gentiles' branches are there too, those 
that are saved; and on and on through this 
great millennial age, Israel is the great Herald 
of the Son of God. 



118 



Yes, the Jew as a nation is going to receive 
Jesus Christ. I fancy the Jew would have 
received Him when He came the first time if 
He had come as He is coming the second time : 
if He had come in the spectacular glory of His 
kingly authority, as He will the second time, 
the Jew would have had no hesitation in ac- 
cepting Him. But He came as a humble child 
in a manger, and they could not take that in, 
and have not yet. But when He comes a sec- 
ond time, in all His glory, they will see Him as 
the Messiah, and Jesus Christ will restore 
them, and the Jew will again move into Pales- 
tine. 

And that great, cursed, sin-blighted coun- 
try held by the sway of the most impotent 
hand that ever ruled among the nations will 
be overthrown, and the Jew who once hallowed 
that place and glorified it as the child of God 
will be the inhabitants of the richest and most 
fertile, and yet under existing circumstances, 
the most barren section of the earth. And 
Palestine, Palestine — with all its God-given 
advantages, which is dishonored under the 

119 



blight of to-day will blossom as the rose. And 
the J ew, in that day of his restoration will be- 
come the greatest evangelist, the mightiest 
preacher that the cross of Christ has ever 
known. 

But that is not all: Christ is coming back 
with His saints, with the purpose also of dem- 
onstrating to this world what His earthly 
reign will mean. We have never known what 
the reign of Jesus Christ means. But when 
Jesus Christ comes the second time, the devil 
will have been chained, and all the sin that will 
be on the earth during that millennial period 
will be the sin naturally inherent in the flesh. 
It will be a sin, minus the extra power of satan 
who will then be locked in the pit, and Jesus 
will hold the reigns of government of all the 
nations in His hand ; and He will see that jus- 
tice and righteousness reign among all people 
and nations upon the face of the earth. 

And all its administration of whatever kind 
or character will be done upon a principle 
which to-day is the controlling, regulating, 
governing principle of heaven. What else does 

120 



that prayer of Jesus mean, "Thy kingdom 
come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done 
in heaven, ' ' if it does not mean this ? It means 
that the day will come when in every part of 
the world Christ's will will be obeyed. It 
means that the day will come when there shall 
not be tolerated a thing on earth which is not 
tolerated in heaven. 

What would come of our enterprises in the 
world to-day if the kingdom of God should 
come, and the will of God be done as it is in 
heaven ? We pray it every day, but how many 
of us as we pray, really want it? "Thy king- 
dom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." O, if it should come, many of us 
would be out of employment, and many of us 
would be unable to employ, for we would have 
nothing to employ with. Righteousness be- 
tween employer and employee would then 
reign as it reigns in heaven. 

But thank God, all this is to be a reality, in 
spite of all the efforts of man to the contrary, 
when Israel is restored, and our Lord Himself 

121 



holds the reins of the world in His nail-pierced 
hands. 

No wonder the Apostle in the closing words 
of the Epistle, declares : "Oh, the depth of the 
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge 
of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, 
and His ways past finding out. For of Him, 
and to Him and through Him are all things. 
To whom be glory forever, Amen." 



122 



GOD'S LAST PAY BAY. 



Romans xiv:10. — "We shall all stand before the judgment seat 
of God." 



CHAPTER VII. 

God's Last Pay Day. 

IN reading an account of the great disasters 
we have had of late, one is bound to think 
of the instability of the universe. It does 
not take belief in the Bible to cause one to 
think of it. The fact of the structural changes 
that are taking place show that even the earth 
is unstable. To those of us who believe the 
Bible these disasters are unnecessary to cause 
us to think of the end. We know that this 
world is to have an end. The fire is to come 
down from heaven and destroy it, and there is 
to be a new heaven and a new earth. Never 
mind what the little infidels have to say. They 
had rather be struck dead than to admit it, but 
all science is pointing this way to-day. 

The world is to be destroyed and a new 
heaven and earth is to be established. This is 
the greatest fact ahead of us. Just when this 
destruction is to take place no man knows. 
We know that it is to occur in connection with 
the judgment of the great white throne. It 
may occur at any time, and at the destruction 

125 



of the world, God will judge the quick and the 
dead. 

In an old cathedral in Germany is a picture 
that represents the transactions of that day. 
It is just to the rear of the pulpit. Sitting 
upon the throne in magnificence, is Christ. 
Behind Him, and just to either side are His 
apostles : six on one side and six on the other. 
In front of Him is a great crowd of people, 
each waiting for his turn to be judged. Just 
above the crowd, and between them and the 
judge, is an angel with a pair of balances in 
her hand. Over these balances is a scroll on 
which is written ' ' Thou art weighed in the bal- 
ances." There is a blank line left at the end 
of the sentence, and a question mark. Par 
back in the background is an awful pit, out of 
whose mouth fire comes which lights up the 
heavens and falls upon the earth. . 

I have been told by people who are well ac- 
quainted with the facts that time after time, 
men and women have gone into that church, 
and the look of that picture has brought such 
conviction upon them that they have fallen 

126 



down and cried for mercy. No wonder this is 
true. One thing that man needs, to make him 
flee to God, is a realization of the transactions 
of the future. In that picture one sees por- 
trayed the two great events, the judgment and 
the destruction. 

It is not my purpose here to deal further 
with the destruction, what I want us to see is 
the judgment which is to be administered in 
connection with it. There are a number of 
judgments, — the judgment of nations, the 
judgment of the devil, the judgment of the 
cross, the judgment of assignment and the 
judgment of rewards. It is only my purpose 
here to discuss the judgment of final rewards, 
but in doing so it will be necessary to say a few 
things about the judgment of assignment 
which occurs at death. 

There is no such thing as an intermediate 
place between death and the judgment. The 
man dead is assuredly in heaven or hell. There 
is not a grave big enough to hold a soul. You 
are here to-day, you are there to-morrow. This 
is the judgment of assignment. We have got 

127 



to have a place and there has got to be some 
method and standard of assignment. 

The great question is, what is to determine 
the place of assignment? Some think it is the 
life. It is not the life. Life does not have any- 
thing to do with the place of assignment of 
the soul. No man was ever lost because he was 
what the world calls a bad man, and no man 
ever went to heaven because he was what the 
world calls a good man. Let that burn in your 
heart. No man was ever lost because he com- 
mitted some overt sin. John says "He that 
believeth on Him is not condemned; but he 
that believeth not is condemned already, be- 
cause he hath not believed on the only begotten 
Son of God." 

When you come to the judgment of death, 
the only question is, TThat have you done with 
the shed blood of Jesus Christ ? Salvation is a 
question of faith. Have you accepted the blood 
of Christ ? He was sent from heaven to die on 
the cross to pay the debt of sin. No man will 
ever go to heaven unless he turns to the cross 
and accepts its atoning blood. 

128 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




You remember when the destroying angel 
came the message of prepartion was 
" Sprinkle blood on the lintel and door post." 
The destroying angel was to look for the blood, 
and nothing else. You fail to accept Jesus 
Christ in His substitutionary work on the 
cross, and you are a doomed soul, it matters 
not what your life may be. But, you say 
"What of a bad man who claims to accept 
Christ as Lord and Master? I answer, his 
claims are positively false. Christ does not 
reign as Lord and Master over a bad life. 

Now we pass to the judgment of the great 
white throne, about which we want to speak 
most. This is the last judgment, the judgment 
of rewards, when life will come up and play its 
part. This is the judgment when overt sins 
will be dealt with. Then we shall be punished 
according to the deeds done in the body, or 
rewarded according to the deeds done in the 
body. When a man dies, he simply ceases 
bodily activity ; his life goes on until the world 
comes to an end. 

129 



Science tells us that all noise, the noise of 
great carwheels, the shrieks that come from 
ruined homes, the cry of men and women ; that 
all these things are wafted onward and upward 
until this confusion of sound blends into one 
glorious harmony. So life begun on this 
earth will never end until the world is de- 
stroyed. The influences we put in motion 
here will never, never cease until the world 
ends. Influences are indestructible; they 
never end until the world is no more. 

Here is a man, who by his money educates 
poor girls who become the mothers of children. 
Those children become useful, and bless some- 
body else. On and on the work goes until the 
world stops. 

That young man that you take and sit down 
by and teach his first game of cards may be- 
come a gambler ; then you would give anything 
to undo that act. But it can not be done. He 
has taught somebody else, and on and on, until 
the end of time, that influence goes. You can 
not stop it. You may get saved, but you can 
not stop that which you have put in motion. 

130 



Every man has a chain in which he is the 
first link; a second link is added to number 
one, a third to number two, a fourth to num- 
ber three ; and on and on these links are formed 
as we influence men. We can not stop our in- 
fluence. If this is not enough to make a man 
stop and think, I do not know what it will take. 
God help us to see this now, and stop the life 
of sin. 

Now, we shall consider just a few things 
about the characteristics of the judgment. 
This is the time, of all others, when we are to 
get justice, because Jesus Christ is to be the 
Judge. It is impossible always to get justice 
here in this life. You know that society is 
just as unjust as it can be. You know, for ex- 
ample, that a man, though he may live a life 
of impurity, may go and mingle in society, 
while the poor woman is turned outside in the 
cold. This is unjust. It is unjust to take the 
woman guilty of the same sin as men, and put 
her low down, while men go about with a high 
head. Society knows that is unjust. 

131 



But when we stand before the judgment, 
God is going to measure us by His standard. 
Here a man can make debts and cheat his cred- 
itors out of money, and put a sign over his door 
with his wife's name on it, and go on in busi- 
ness. Some men do not mind putting on a wo- 
man's dress when it comes to aiding in fraud, 
and yet they say, "I am not hen-pecked." 
Justice! Justice! will be the cry at the judg- 
ment. 

There will come a time when the spotless 
Lamb of God will be the Judge. We are going 
to stand there, and look Him in the face, and 
He will tell the world who it is that is in the 
wrong. We are going to stand before that 
judgment, and the world will know. It is not 
going to be long, at the longest. Our time in 
this world is short. Soon we will step off the 
stage of life, and the little institutions we have 
formed here, will live or die. God will arrange 
that our time to do good is short, very short. 
What we do we must do quickly. 

But this judgment is also individual. We 
can not hide behind our parents; we can not 

132 



hide behind our church; we can not hide be- 
hind our courts. It is individual. 

The other day I stepped upon a pair of 
scales, and there was dropped out a card tell- 
ing me the number of pounds I weighed, and 
the place where I was weighed. So, every step 
we take in this life is registered in God's book, 
and can only be covered up by the blood of 
Christ. God help us to see this. We have the 
chance to get ready now; we may not have it 
to-morrow. 

Then again, this judgment means the sepa- 
ration of ties that have been so sweet on this 
earth. A few years ago I came near dying. 
The one thing that came to me with most ter- 
ror was the separation from loved ones and 
friends. I love my own family, and the older 
I get, the tighter the tie binds me to both fam- 
ily and friends. I do not like to think of sep- 
aration. When I go to leave home, and think 
of the little crowd I leave behind, it is a hard 
thing to do. 

I never had this take hold of me as it did 
when I stood by my mother's death-bed and 

133 



said good-bye to her. She gave me a "G-od 
bless you !" and I went back to my home in an- 
other part of the State. The next day I got a 
telegram saying "Mother is dead; come 
home." Through the coldest weather I ever 
traveled I rode 14 miles in a buggy to get 
there. When I came in sight of the old home 
I realized that something had happened. 

Up till this time it had been something I 
had not realized. I could not, for the life of 
me, realize that my mother was dead. But 
when I saw the friends in the vard and court, 
and when I went to the door and my baby 
brother met me and put his arms around my 
neck, and with tears running down his cheeks 
said "Mother is dead," I tell you, it struck my 
heart with a thud I shall never forget. I went 
then, and looked down in my mother's dead 
face. I saw the lips that I had just kissed — 
the hands that had just patted my head, and 
the eye that had looked out through the win- 
dow as I went down the street a short while 
before. Then I said "Yes, the truest, sweetest, 

134 



purest human being that God ever graced this 
earth with, is gone, gone, gone." 

But she is not gone forever. We shall strike 
hands up yonder, and walk the golden streets. 
When I get there, I want to put my arms 
around her, and sit down by the side of the 
river of life, and bless her throughout all eter- 
nity, for leading me to know Jesus as my Sa- 
vior. What a blessing! What a heritage! 

Certainly the Apostle Paul does well, when 
he calls attention to the great fact that we shall 
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ ; 
there is no fact more clearly set forth, and 
nothing more essential. The sum total of life 
can only be arrived at when life's opportuni- 
ties are over. And he is wise who lives in con- 
stant remembrance of the fact that he is living 
for eternity; that this life is the time of sow- 
ing, and on the final pay day the harvest is to 
be reaped. 

i 6 This is the hour when memory wakes 
Visions of joy that could not last; 
This is the hour when fancy takes 
A survey of the past ! 

135 



"She brings before the pensive mind 

The hallowed scenes of earlier years ; 
And friends who long have been consigned 
To silence and to tears ! 



"The few we lik'd; the One we lov'd; 
A sacred bond ! came stealing on ; 
And many a form far hence remov'd, 
And many a pleasure gone ! 

" Friendships that now in death are hushed, 
And young affection's broken chain; 
And hopes that fate too quickly crushed, 
In memory live again! 

"For watch the fading gleams of day, 
But muse on hopes as quickly flown, 
Tint after tint they died away, 
Till all at last were gone ! 

"This is the hour when fancy wreathes 

Her spell round joys that could not last, 
This is the hour when memory breathes 
A sigh to pleasures past." 



136 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST'S AGONY IN GETHSEMANB 
Matt. 26 : 36^6 ; Luke 22 : 39—46 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST BEFORE PILATE 
Matt, 27 : 11—14 ; Mark 15 : 1—5 ; Luke 23 : 1—5 ; John 18 : 28—36 



MY FATHER'S HOUSE. 



John xiv:2. — "In my Father's house are many mansions." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

My Fathek's House. 

HOW many hopes center around heaven ! 
Without that hope life has no charm. 
Blot it out and you have destroyed all 
hope. The strongest minds that have ever 
lived have been believers in its existence, and 
have in one way or another entertained a hope 
of its final realization. Christ when on earth 
spoke much of heaven. He used it as a means 
of comforting the sad and despondent. 

One of the most pathetic incidents related 
in the gospels is found in the fourteenth chap- 
ter of John, where Christ, just before His de- 
parture, looking into the faces of His despond- 
ent and well-nigh hopeless followers, said, 
"Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in 
God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house 
are many mansions ; if it were not so I would 
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again, and receive you unto Myself ; that 
where I am, there ye may be also." 

139 



How these words, preserved by the Spirit of 
Gk>d, have cheered and comforted many a sad 
heart since then ! Well do I remember my last 
visit to my mother. When seated by her bed- 
side I read, at her request, these verses. It 
was a few days before she died. Oh, how they 
cheered her, as there upon her sick bed she lay 
waiting for their full realization. And so 
thousands upon thousands have been com- 
forted and strengthened. 

The skeptic tries to convince us that we are 
foolish in entertaining such a superstition ; but 
it will never be possible with the history of the 
past and our experience of the present to blot 
out this hope. Like the little boy who was sail- 
ing his kite, which had gone out of his sight, 
and some one came along and asked him how 
he knew there was a kite at the other end. 

"Why," said he, "I can feel it pulling." 

So, there is something about our hope in 
heaven; if the whole Word of God should be 
blotted out and we were left as we are now, 
there is something within, which we can not ex- 
plain, that tells us of such a place. I am sorry 

140 



for the man or the woman, the boy or the girl, 
who has no hope in the beyond. 

What is heaven ? In answer to this question 
we can find no better authority than Christ 
Himself ; and He said in the fourteenth chap- 
ter of John: "I go to prepare a place for 
you." Heaven, therefore, must be a place. I 
don't know where, but somewhere Christ is 
preparing a place to receive His people. To 
me it would be enough to know that it was any- 
where out of hell ; for while we rejoice in the 
hope of heaven it will also pay us to remember 
the possibility of hell. 

I never have seen an ungodly man die that 
I have not thought of heaven. Once I remem- 
ber holding the hand of a dying friend. When 
I told him that he was dying he looked at me 
with such a look of despair that I shall never 
forget, and said, "Oh, doctor, do not let me 
die! I can not afford it now. Hold me fast 
for one more day! Give me another chance! 
Oh, God, I can not, I can not, I can not go like 
this!" 

141 



But he did go, and I never shall forget as I 
sat there holding his hand, while his life went 
out like a candle, how I thought of heaven ; 
the heaven that my friend was not prepared to 
enter. 

But not only is heaven a place, it is also a 
prepared place. Christ said: "In my Fath- 
er's house are many mansions ; I go to prepare 
a place for you." 

Thus we have heaven presented to us as a 
great city with mansions in which we are to 
dwell. I don't know how they are built, or 
what they are built of. I only know that they 
are there for a purpose, and that it is my priv- 
ilege as a humble follower of our Lord to have 
a place in this great sanctified city of our God. 

I sometimes like to unfetter my imagina- 
tion, and see myself dwelling in one of these 
mansions. Only a few times in my life have 
I been privileged to dwell even for a short 
time in a real mansion. But I soon shall find 
myself at home up there, and one of the first 
plans that comes to me is a reception to my 
loved ones and friends. I love to be hospitable. 

142 



If I had it in my power I would spend and be 
spent in making other people happy ; up there 
I will have time, and my Father will furnish 
the means, and so I let my imagination fancy 
this great reception. 

When I send off my invitations of course 
the first one on the list shall be the blessed 
Christ. Then I shall want to see my loved 
ones, those who with me have been redeemed 
by the blood of the Lamb. I shall want them 
to help me serve and receive. And then I shall 
want some of the old patriarchs to grace the 
occasion, and so I shall send for Abraham, and 
Isaac and J acob. And somehow I feel as if I 
shall want David to come with his harp and 
make the music for our rejoicing. And then 
we will invite the disciples who assisted our 
Lord when upon earth. 

Then we shall begin to look out for those 
who have helped us most in life. There is the 
old preacher who preached the sermon that 
touched my heart when I was a sinner, and 
there is the young woman, whose name I have 
forgotten, who came and led me to the altar. I 

143 



shall want to see them. Yes, and a host of 
others I can not begin to enumerate. But 
somehow, I fancy, I shall rejoice most in in- 
viting those whom it has been my privilege to 
help in some little way. They have gone out 
and helped others, and on and on; and, oh, 
what rejoicing we will have when we come to- 
gether to talk it all over ! 

Who will be there? John in Revelation, 
seventh chapter, is perhaps the best authority 
upon this point, and he says as he looks out 
through time, and by the aid of the Holy Spirit 
is enabled to see something of the beyond, that 
the crowd there was so great that no man could 
number it. T\ T hat a happy thought to some of 
us! We like a crowd. 

It is so inspiring to see a great crowd of 
people. And J ohn says that it will be a cosmo- 
politan crowd, in that it is made up of "all 
nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
tongues." I do not see how some of us, with 
our narrow-mindedness and racial prejudices, 
will get along in such a crowd. I remember 
the first time I was forced to realize this. It 

144 



was in Baltimore, during a meeting of the na- 
tional Baptist Young People's convention of 
America. I was very much opposed to allow- 
ing the colored brethren a seat under the tent ; 
but, without entering into any discussion of 
the matter now, it is enough to say that they 
took their seats. 

The closing night arrived. We were all to 
join hands and sing our closing song, " Blest 
Be The Tie That Binds." Ten thousand peo- 
ple, it is said, stood with hands joined. So 
far as I know there was but one break in the 
crowd, and that occurred between myself and 
a colored brother who sat just opposite me. I 
made up my mind I would not take his hand. 
We had not gone far in the song, however, be- 
fore I began to feel very bad, and if I had not 
made so much ado about the colored brother's 
presence, I would have gladly taken his hand. 
Finally, however, my heart got the better of 
my prejudice, and I said to myself: "I will 
not be such a fool. That man loves the Lord, 
and the Lord loves him." I could tell it from 
the way he sang. 

145 



So I reached forth my hand and he took it 
in his and gave it a gentle squeeze that came 
direct from his heart and went direct to mine, 
and, oh, how ashamed I felt ! and yet I thank 
God it happened. I do not believe in mixing 
races, but I do believe since we are children of 
one Father in the sipiritual sense, that there 
are times when the souls of all should " mingle 
together in sweet delight." 

John says that the people in this crowd had 
white robes on. White is a sign of purity, and 
so they were pure and clean. I have wondered 
sometimes where they got their white robes. 
Surely there is no side station between the 
grave and the judgment where we can get off 
and wash our robes. If they are to be white 
in heaven they must be white before we leave 
the earth, washed white in the blood of the 
Lamb. 

They also had palms in their hands. The 
palm leaf is a sign of victory. These myriads 
of people had been victorious over sin. I have 
wondered also where they got their palms, for 
surely the chariot of the judgment does not 

146 



stop at palm forests. If we have palms of vic- 
tory in heaven they must be obtained before 
we die. 

My friends, this must be our purpose, to 
overcome sin by the power of Grod's Holy 
Spirit. Let us not be deceived. Entrance into 
heaven inust be preceded by a thorough prep- 
aration. 

"I hope your master has gone to heaven," 
said one to a southern slave in the old-time 
days of slavery. 

"I'se afraid he ain't, boss," replied Ben, 
" cause I ain't never hear him talkin' about it. 
When he gettin' ready to go to the North or 
the Springs, he alius talkin' about it an' mak- 
in' preparations for weeks ahead ob time. But 
I ain't neber hear 'bout him makin' prepara- 
tions to go to heaven." 

That old darkey's words, simple though they 
be, have a mighty weight of wisdom and a sol- 
emn warning to us. 

What shall we do there ? In this same con- 
nection John tells us something of what we 
shall be doing in heaven. He says we shall 

147 



praise God with shouts and song and prayer. 
I don't know what will become of some fastid- 
ious folks who are so afraid of shouting, for 
when we get to heaven there is going to be a 
chorus of voices shouting, "Praise God," and 
"Glory Hallelujah!" 

He also tells us the kind of prayer we will 
make in heaven. John says it begins with 
"Amen" and ends with "Amen." There is 
not a single petition in that prayer; it is all 
praise to God. We won't have to ask for any- 
thing in heaven because we won't need any- 
thing there. They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun 
light on them nor any heat. For the Lamb, 
which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed 
them; and shall lead them unto living foun- 
tains of waters ; and God shall wipe away all 
tears from their eyes." 

Oh, what a glorious home this is to which 
we are going. A home free from tribulation. 
A home where sorrow does not enter. A home 
of no pain and no sickness and no death. A 
home of no suffering and no hunger, where the 

148 



lonesome widow and the helpless, defenseless 
orphan will be lonesome and helpless no more. 
A house of no tears and no heartaches. A 
home of united loved ones and friends, where 
long-absent companions will come once more 
together, where infant children shall find the 
long-absent mother. 

When I think of heaven there comes to my 
mind the experience of an old miner, who had 
spent his life in a mine. He had never seen the 
sun. Finally, he was persuaded to accompany 
some friends out from the valley to a tall 
mountain peak, away above the smoke and the 
fog that he might see the sun. They reached 
the top of the mountain in the night, and after 
waiting with eager eyes until the darkness be- 
gan to recede, he saw the sun as he seemed to 
arise from his bed of night, touching all the 
heavens as he advanced with a beautiful radi- 
ance ; then he saw the sun himself as he arose 
above the horizon and seemed to stand still, 
sending out from his glowing nimbus the light 
which was calling the birds out of sleep and 
kissing the flowers into wakefulness. 

149 



The man, to whom all this was new, stood 
like one in a dream, his eyes drinking in the 
glory of the rising sun. Not a thing escaped 
his notice from the rays of light that flung 
themselves upon the sky, lighting up the clouds 
with radiance, to the tiny dewdrop at his feet 
which reflected the light. All day he watched 
and wondered as the sun mounted the sky, giv- 
ing its heat and light to the world, then began 
to descend on the other side, finally nestling in 
the cradle of night. Still he watched until the 
stars began to twinkle and the moon bathed 
the earth in her mellow light. Then he fell on 
his knees and began to praise Him who alone 
was able to create such a system. 

And so, my friends, some of these days, if 
we are faithful, God will send His angel mes- 
sengers and call us out of this mine of mor- 
tality, and we shall see the King, the Light of 
the World, the Son of God, in all His resplen- 
dent glory, spreading His rays of light over 
the world. We shall go to Him, and with all 
the redeemed of earth shall reign and rejoice 
foervermore. 

150 



This view of heaven is not an imaginary one. 
It is supported by the whole teaching of Scrip- 
ture. Our Lord, in His gracious love, has pre- 
pared for us a home, and it is our privilege to 
know much more about it than we do. We 
have His Word and His Spirit of understand- 
ing, and we have only to appropriate it; and 
we have the testimony of the saints in all the 
ages past. 

I believe that many a saint passing from this 
life into the life to come has been given 
glimpses of heaven. The veil which divides 
the material from the spiritual world, when it 
is being withdrawn by the hand of death, 
sometimes enables the spirit to see for its cheer 
and encouragement in passing over, much of 
the beauty of that which lies beyond. 

I give great credence to the dying testimo- 
nies of the saints. I remember one which 
greatly impressed me. It was that of a woman 
who had been deaf and dumb all her life. Just 
as she was passing away she called her family 
about her and then asked me to support her 

151 



arm while she spelled out her dying testimony 
with her fingers, and this is what she said : "I 
realize that I am passing over the river. It is 
not dark and dreary as I once thought. I am 
looking right into the glory land, and there I 
see the face of the little sister that left us years 
ago." 

This was not an illusion ; it was very real to 
her. She was not delirious and had not been. 
I believe it was the revelation of God to 
strengthen His child in her hour of need. 

Let us take comfort. It is not always going 
to be sad and dreary. The fog of doubt that 
now settles over us and beclouds our vision is 
going to lift some day and we shall see and 
know the blessed reality of a home in heaven. 

"They are not dead 

Whom the Father has taken, 
Tenderly cared for, 

Not lost, nor forsaken ; 
Sweetly they rest, 

Whom the morning shall waken. 



152 



" Happy are they 

Whom the Father is keeping, 
They have forgotten 

The time of their weeping ; 
After sowing in tears 

In joy they are reaping. 

"We who remain 

Need not yield unto sorrow, 
But think of their joy, 

And hope from them borrow. 
Rest waits for us, 

And a fairer to-morrow. " 



153 



THE HOLY CITY. 



Genesis iv:17. — "And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and 
tear Enoch, and he builded a city, and called the name of the 
city after the name of his son Enoch.'' 

Revelations xxi:2. — "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a oride 
adorned for her husband." 



CHAPTER IX 
The Holy City. 



HE city has always occupied a conspic- 



uous place in the order of our civiliza- 



tion. Jehovah has always regarded 
the city of supreme importance. In the Old 
Testament dispensation we find the various 
civilizations as they came and went, centered 
in their great cities. It was true of the life 
and times of Jesus. Most of the teaching and 
preaching that was done by Jesus was done in 
the cities. It was also true in the life of the 
Apostles. 

Most all the work that was done by the Apos- 
tles of the early church, immediately following 
the days of our Lord, was done in cities of 
more or less importance, generally in the 
larger cities of the land. Every church estab- 
lished by the Apostles was established in the 
city; there was no church established by them 
in a country section, not even in a village sec- 
tion. 

All the great business corporations of the 
present day and hour are centered in the cities. 




157 



Every great political movement that has swept 
over the world has originated in one way or an- 
other in the city. Every great essential move- 
ment has had its beginning in one way or an- 
other in the city. 

And so has it been with reference to social 
enterprise. All the great social and philan- 
thropic movements of the present time are cen- 
tered in the city, and to-day if we had a chance 
to look over the world we would see that not 
only is this true of the cities at large, but it is 
true that a very few cities control all the af- 
fairs of the world to-day. 

Now, this being true, it has occurred to me 
that I should select two cities, to present the 
views that I have in mind concerning this sub- 
ject. I have selected the first city that was ever 
established, so far as record goes, upon the 
face of the earth — the city of Enoch. The 
history of that city is very brief, but it is very 
significant. 

When the context of this verse is taken into 
account, we have an interesting reference con- 
cerning the city of Enoch, built in the days 

158 



when man was in the incipiency of his earthly 
career. Cain and Abel had brought their offer- 
ings to the altar of God. Cain brought the 
fruit of the field, for he was a farmer. Abel 
brought the fruit of his flock, because he was 
a herdsman. Abel's offering was accepted of 
the Lord. Cain's offering was rejected. 

I have not the time to go into an expression 
of why Abel's offering was accepted and 
Cain's offering rejected. There is sufficient 
reason to satisfy any enquiring mind as to why 
this was true. Because Abel's offering was 
selected by God, and because he received the 
blessing of the favor of God upon his offering, 
and Cain was rejected, and he lost control of 
his temper, taking his vengeance upon his 
brother who was in no sense to blame ; and out 
in the field one day he slew his brother over 
that matter, and God immediately stepped in 
upon the scene which was all enacted before 
His all-seeing eye, and God drove Cain out of 
the country because of the murder, into a land 
called "the land of wandering;" and there 
Cain spent his life. 

159 



The first act we find described was the mar- 
rying of his wife; and the second, was the 
building of a city which he called Enoch. 

What were the characteristics of this city^ 
In the first place, it was a city built with crim- 
son hands ; a city built with human blood. It 
was a city without love; ruled by envy and 
self-seeking, and jealousy and hatred, and the 
vilest of passion. It was a city without an al- 
tar, without worship, without God. Mind you, 
God had been left out by this man. God's law 
had been trampled under his unholy feet ; and 
because of that, God drove him from his native 
land, and out into this land of wandering. 

I do not hesitate to say to you that this is not 
the only city that has been built without God. 
It is not the only city that has been built with 
crimson hands, and supported by crimson 
money, — money received as taxes, which thing 
taxed is in itself unholy and unrighteous. And 
listen! and money that any city or any coun- 
try, or any individual receives, that is the re- 
sult of a crimson, or unrighteous, or unholy 
traffic, is blood money, and the city that is built 

160 



or operated, — in part or altogether upon such 
money, is a city crimson with blood. 

Then the next city that I want you to con- 
sider over against that — and in beautiful con- 
trast to that, — is a city ideal; the city de- 
scribed in the Book of Revelation. John, ban- 
ished upon the Island of Patmos, with his eye, 
though aged, touched by the finger of seership 
and prophecy, looked through coming ages, 
and saw the city, the Holy City, the new Jeru- 
salem ; and he gives us a description of its char- 
acter and its composition and government; 
and it is now to this ideal city as seen by this 
seer on Patmos that I want to call you to look. 

First, I want you to see its composition. It 
comes down from heaven; it is therefore not 
in heaven. So many people in reading this 
chapter descriptive of this city, think that they 
are reading a description of heaven, our fu- 
ture home. It is a city that John sees " com- 
ing down from heaven;" a city that has been 
fashioned and patterned and moulded in its 
construction and in its government and main- 
tenance, in heaven. 

161 



Second, it is a city that is fashioned by the 
hand of God. That is to say, God is its achi- 
tect, God is its planner. God is the Author of 
its method of life and government. 

Third, it is a city made ready as a bride 
adorned for her husband. 

Fourth, it is a city in which God Himself is 
their God ; God Himself is the embodiment of 
their law and conduct. 

Now, I want you to see with me the beauty 
of the city; the walls were of jasper; the 
streets were of pure gold, the gates were of 
pearl, the foundations built up out of precious 
stones. On one side is jasper, probably our 
diamond ; on the other side is sapphire, beauti- 
ful blue ; chalcedony, a beautiful green ; emer- 
ald, a darker green, sardonyx, like our onyx; 
sardius with which we are not acquainted; 
chrysolyte, looking like gold; beryl which is 
said to be more of the nature of our radium 
than anything else, emitting as it does a per- 
petual light; topaz, a yellowish green; chrys- 
ophasus, a green stone unknown to-day; ja- 
cinth, red ; amethyst, a beautiful violet color. 

162 



Here we have a description of the appear- 
ance of the ideal city. Think if you will, of the 
beauty of such a city ! It beggars description. 
Think of those stones each flashing its light 
into the face of the other, and all blending to- 
gether until they make a light for brilliancy 
and beauty that outrivals the light of ten thou- 
sand sunsets ! 

But somebody says to me "This is only fig- 
urative language. You do not mean to say 
that the ideal city is to be a city of such ma- 
terial as that?" Then my answer is, that if 
this be figurative language, then the thing 
itself is far more beautiful than the figure used, 
for it is a common, everyday principle of 
rhetoric — as any man will admit — that a figure 
of speech is only used when language breaks 
down; that is to say, when it is impossible to 
convey through the ordinary medium of lan- 
guage, a thought: it is then that a figure of 
speech is used to convey that thought as far as 
is possible. 

Next comes the government, which is the ex- 
planation of the beauty of this city. What is 

163 



to be the ideal government of the ideal city? 
Our text describes it: "And there shall in no 
wise enter into it anything that is unclean, or 
that maketh a lie." Is not that enough expla- 
nation? What is there that accounts for the 
beauty of the ideal city? It is the fact that 
there is nothing unclean in it, or that maketh 
a lie within its walls. Such a city is bound to 
be beautiful, for cleanliness is beauty, whether 
in character or in the streets of the city. Think 
of it ! what a city : nothing unclean in its busi- 
ness ; nothing unclean in its social life ; nothing 
unclean in its political life; nothing unclean 
in its homes; nothing unclean in its streets; 
nothing — unclean ! 

But again, somebody says "This is a picture 
of heaven." To start with, I will say to you 
that it is not merely a picture of heaven, it is 
an ideal city, fashioned in heaven and let down 
on earth. But suppose it is heaven — that does 
not change it, for it is also the ideal for the 
earth. 

Heaven itself is the ideal for earth. We are 
to go as far as we can to bring heaven to pass 

164 



here. And mark you, the man that has not got 
heaven inside will never have heaven outside. 
The man who has not got heaven here, will 
never have heaven when he gets up yonder : 
"As the tree falleth so it must lie." 

If this be a picture of heaven, our future 
home in hope and prospect, that does not 
change the ideal. It is also a pattern for earth. 

And this brings us to the practical meaning 
of it all. How then are w^e to-day, to have an 
ideal city; perhaps I should ask this question 
before submitting — Would you desire to live 
in such a city ? There are two classes of peo- 
ple ready with an answer to that question. 
First, the man who says "Yes, I would; I am 
a clean man, and like a clean life, and I want 
to raise my children in a clean atmosphere : I 
would like to live in an ideal city like that." 
Another man says, "No, I would not because I 
am an unclean man, and I want unclean en- 
vironment, that I may revel in it to my heart's 
content." 

Perhaps a third man would say, "Yes, I 
should like to live in such a city, but I do not 

165 



believe it would be possible to run such a city 
on this earth." You do not? Is this ideal 
city, fashioned in heaven, impossible to work 
on earth? Then God is not able to carry out 
His scheme, and so let us get rid of Him and 
let us take a tin god. If we have got to have an 
impotent God, let us have one that we can 
make and handle for ourselves. 

The man who argues that it is imposible to 
work an ideal city among men, is the man who 
denies the power and willingness of God. I 
tell you the trouble — men are not willing to 
try it. I should like to see one place where the 
city could be built upon the principles set forth 
here in the formation of this ideal city; I 
should love to see one city that would believe 
enough in God, and venture enough on God to 
take its stand against everything that is un- 
clean, and give God a chance to show this sin- 
ful old world what He can do. 

How are we to have the ideal city ? What is 
to be done that we may get it % Let me say to 
you that as I have studied it, to get the ideal 
city there must be a complete reformation of 

166 



existing order in the life of our cities. First, 
by that I mean a reformation of our city's 
ideals; What is the ideal for a model city? 
Here we have it : Nothing unclean allowed to 
enter! No man that maketh a lie allowed to 
administer it. There can be nothing any 
higher than that, any more perfect than that, 
and that is to be the ideal of every city. 

I wish I could see one city council that suited 
my notion — nothing unclean allowed in it, and 
nothing that makes a lie allowed to dominate 
it. If that is not a model I do not know one. I 
wish I could see one councilman that would 
suit me. I do not suppose I would suit myself 
if I were one. What would constitute an ideal 
councilman? From my standpoint of reason- 
ing this is what he would be — he would permit 
nothing unclean to enter the city, and would 
allow nothing that makes a lie to administer it. 
I would not leave the Bible to find my motto. 
He would take every question presented to 
that council, and he would dissect it, tear it to 
pieces and look at it to learn whether it was 
clean or unclean. 

167 



And there must also be a complete reforma- 
tion of our cities' laws, and their enforcement. 
Laws determine the atmosphere of morals, the 
church does not do it. The law of the land is 
the thing that does it. The law, ordinarily, 
is the outcome of the teaching of the church 
and the school and the like, and the law makes 
the moral atmosphere. 

The law says "This thing ought not to be," 
and it is not. That is the reason it is formed, 
and put into operation. It is for the protection 
of society. There must be therefore a refor- 
mation of our ideals ; our laws must be brought 
up. In the words of my text, nothing unclean 
or that maketh a lie must be allowed in it. The 
law of the city is to be constructed upon the 
basis of that ideal, so that the business of the 
city council that makes the law, is first of all 
to determine the right and wrong of the situa- 
tion, and so form its law as to protect the com- 
munity against that which is wrong, excluding 
that which is evil, putting out that "which 
maketh a lie" in government. 

168 



This is the reformation necessary in law. 
May God give us that day, when the streets of 
the city as seen in. that vision of the old 
prophet, will be so free from contamination of 
evil as that our boys and girls will play upon 
them without danger of harm; the ideal city, 
with nothing unclean, and no one making a lie 
will be allowed to enter it or to administer it ; 
and G-od Himself will be the Pattern of its 
government. 



169 



THE MYSTERY OF AFFLICTION. 



Job xxx: 15. — "And now my soul is poured out upon me. The 
days of affliction have taken hold upon me." 



CHAPTER X. 

The Mystery of Affliction. 

I BELIEVE that there is a divine side of 
affliction. I believe also that there is a 
human side to it, and I believe that both 
the divine and the human is found in the Book 
of Job, and this book largely is the scriptural 
basis of what I want to bring to you on this 
subject. Strange as it may seem to you, it has 
been the book that has comforted me most in 
my affliction. 

J ob as he stands out in the Word of God, is 
a real character. Despite what the skeptics 
and the Bible critics, many of whom are in the 
pulpits of to-day, say about it, Job is a real 
character and not a fiction. 

The wisest scholarship of the world to-day, 
after making research, after research, has 
come to the conclusion, — a conclusion that 
some of us reached by faith long ago, — that 
Job was a man and lived on earth, and that he 
labored among men as a man, and that his life 
was regarded by the people among whom he 

173 



lived as a most marvelous expression of the di- 
vine power. 

Now, I say, this is the consensus of scholar- 
ship. It is the consensus of the opinions of 
men who study the language and literature of 
the times in which Job lived. Whenever you 
find a man to-day in the pulpit that is sneering 
at Job as a character, mark it, he is only adver- 
tising the shallowness of his own research. 
There is many a man in the pulpit who is being 
passed off as a scholar who only has scholar- 
ship enough to look on the surface of things. 
It is the superficialist that sneers and laughs 
and ridicules the sacred characters of the 
Word of God. 

The first thing that will strike you about the 
character of J ob is his greatness — from every 
standpoint. In the first place he was great be- 
cause he had a big family. He had ten chil- 
dren, seven sons and three daughters. I think 
that the size of Job's family was greatly to his 
credit. I think that one of the greatest 
danger signals that is to-day being waved be- 
fore the civilization of Christendom, is the re- 

174 



pudiation that we find among so many of the 
idea of family life. Motherhood and fath- 
erhood are being looked upon with contempt. 

Job was great in that he had a great charac- 
ter. There was no man like him in the day in 
which he lived. Job was great in wealth. 
Look at what is said in the first chapter about 
the wealth of this great man. "His substance 
also was seven thousand sheep, and three thou- 
sand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, 
and five hundred she asses, and a very great 
household, so that this man was the greatest 
of all the children of the east." 

Now, I do not believe, with so many people, 
that because a man has money he is to be sus- 
piciously looked upon. Here is a man that had 
the greatest wealth in his country at his time, 
and with all his wealth he had the greatest 
character to back it up that any one had ever 
been known to have. I believe that there are 
men of wealth that love God and love their 
f ellowmen ; who are willing to live and die for 
Christ and for their church. 

175 



I grant you that the most of men who revel 
in great wealth are men, I have no doubt, 
who are not, to say the least of it, in very close 
touch with God. It ought not and need not be 
so in any case. 

Job was also great in that he could stand a 
great trial and not falter, and after all, that 
is the test of greatness. It is not what a man 
has, but it is what he can stand. 

See how he stood: One day his sons, and 
they seem to have been a bad lot, had a great 
feast, and they invited their three sisters. 
They had a real, up-to-date banquet, a baccha- 
nalian feast. 

After the feast was over, Job, their father, 
offered a sacrifice for them, for, he said, 
" Doubtless they have sinned and cursed God 
in their feasting." 

Just after this the sons of God came to- 
gether. They came to worship, and as they 
were worshipping God, the devil made his ap- 
pearance. Now, you will observe this, that the 
devil is always found where the deepest rev- 
erence and worship of God is seen. There is 

176 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST DISPUTING WITH THE DOCTORS 

Luke 2 : 41—52 



not anything said about the devil being pres- 
ent at that feast. 

But when the sons of God came together to 
worship, there is where he went, and there is 
where he goes to-day. Has it occurred to you 
that that is still the method of the devil ? Show 
me the man or the woman or the church, walk- 
ing close to God and I will show you the man 
or the woman or the church to-day where the 
devil is most likely to be found. 

If I had to go hunting for the devil, there 
are some churches that I would not expect to 
find him in. There are lots of professing 
Chrisian homes where I would not look for 
him. I should not expect to find him in any of 
the dens of iniquity and shame half so much as 
where the pure gospel of the Son of God is be- 
ing preached. There is where I should ex- 
pect to find the devil. 

But, thank God, there in that place of wor- 
ship another great personality manifests 
Himself. God was present, and, listen! 
wherever the devil goes among the people of 
God, thank God, God always goes too. 

177 



In that place of worship God came across 
the devil, and had a conversation with him. 
He said to the devil, "What are you doing 
here?" As much as to say, "You are not in 
your own territory. You have no business 
here." The devil trembled and said, "I know 
it. I am not going to stay here long. I am just 
roaming around and doing what I can to help 
along my cause." 

God said, "In your visiting round, have you 
ever run up with my servant Job ?" 

"Yes," answered the devil. 

"Well, has it ever occurred to you that he is 
the greatest and best man in all the world?" 

6 1 Yes, ' ' said the devil. 6 6 But anybody would 
be good that was treated like he is treated. 
Why, you have got him hedged about. You 
are paying him to be good. Everything he 
touches turns to money, and of course any man 
will do good and serve God if he is going to be 
paid for it like that." 

And God said: "You say then that Job is 
good because he is paid for it. Well, if that is 

178 



the way you have of judging my children, I 
will let you put him to the test." 

Did it ever occur to you that sometimes God 
lets us pass through suffering that He may 
whip the devil ? He did Job. 

God then told the devil that he could take 
away Job's property and try him; but He 
charged him not to touch Job himself. God 
put a limitation on the devil, and He does to- 
day. The devil could not touch Job's property 
until he got permission from God to do it, and 
then God put a limit to his ability to touch 
and destroy. Campbell Morgan says, "The 
devil could not touch a hair on the back of one 
of Job's camels without God's permission." 

Well, one day the sons and daughters of Job 
were having another bacchanalian feast at the 
home of one of the sons. As they were thus 
revelling in their sins, a man came running up 
to Job and said, "Job, while your sons and 
daughters were having a great feast, there 
came down certain enemies upon your oxen 
and destroyed them, and destroyed all the serv- 

179 



ants that were with them. I alone am left to 
tell the tale." 

Just as he finished, another man rushed up 
and said, 4 4 Job, while your sons and daughters 
were revelling in their feast, fire came down 
from heaven and destroyed all your sheep and 
all the servants except me. I am the only one 
left." 

While he was speaking another came run- 
ning up, and said, " Job, while your sons and 
daughters were feasting certain enemies came 
down upon your camels and destroyed all of 
them and all the servants that watched them, 
and I alone am alive to tell the story." 

And so it went on, until finally, the worst of 
all the messages came. Word was brought to 
Job that while his sons and daughters were 
drinking and carousing, a wind came and blew 
down the house and destroyed every one of 
them. Everything Job had was now swept 
away. 

Now, let us see what he did. What would 
you have done % Job arose and rent his mantle 
and shaved his head and fell down upon the 

180 



ground and worshipped, and said: 4 4 Naked 
came I . . . and naked shall I return. The 
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. 
Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

And the children of God had a meeting, and 
Q-od and the devil met again. The Lord said to 
the devil, "Have you considered my servant 
Job, that there is none like him in all the 
earth?" 

"Yes," the devil answered, "But you let me 
have him a while longer and I will get him. 
Let me touch his body, for there is nothing a 
man will not give for his life." 

"Well," the Lord said, "If you still have 
that opinion of him, go ahead and touch his 
body, but don't you dare to touch his life. 
Spare that." 

I fancv the devil switched himself off then 

ti 

with great glee. Then followed that great 
affliction of his body. Sores broke out from 
his head to his heels. After that came the 
awful and humiliating experience in which his 
wife turned her back on him and his friends 
deserted him. Then followed that long siege 

181 



of trial and testing and misrepresentation and 
falsifying. All through these Job remained 
true, and at last the whole purpose of the mar- 
vellous story of Job's life flashes out before us 
like lightning upon a very dark, black cloud. 

After having passed through all these ex- 
periences, the loss of his family and his prop- 
erty and friends, then Job gets down before 
God and says, " Heretofore I had heard of 
thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine 
eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself." 

That last expression gives us an insight into 
his future victory. ' 6 Wherefore/' he says, 
"I abhor myself." As good as Job was, there 
was something in him that continued to stir up 
self. God had two motives in his affliction. 
First, to defeat the devil, to bring him to 
shame, and second, to elevate Job, the instru- 
ment through which the defeat came. God 
wanted to pay Job for using him as a whip to 
whip the devil. And God will pay every child 
of His to-day that has surrendered to be the 
whipcord in the hand of God to lash the devil. 
Are you ready to make this surrender % 

182 



The only way that man will ever get rid of 
the self life is to see God, and the only way to 
see God is through Christ. Take Christ in suf- 
fering and sorrow ! 

There is a story of one of the great opera 
singers of Europe — a woman who was never 
satisfied with the adornment of her body. She 
went to the extent of wild and insane extrava- 
gance. She lived in perpetual luxury and 
ease. It is said of this woman that, although 
she lived this life, she had a great and tender 
heart. 

On one occasion she was in Rome, and was 
taken to that old cathedral which contains that 
wonderful picture of the crucifixion that sur- 
passes every picture of the crucifixion that was 
ever painted by the hand of man. 

When she stood before that marvellous piece 
of artistic work, that seems to have been done 
by the hand of an angel, great tears ran down 
her cheeks. She went back to her room and 
laid aside her jewels and her gorgeous raiment 
and bowed herself down before God and dedi- 
cated her life to him. That is the J ob victory. 

183 



When lie got up after this vision of God, 
God took him by the hand and led him to 
greater victory than he had ever known. 

He gave him twice as much of everything in 
this world's goods as he ever had before. 

Oh, do not fail, my beloved friends, to catch 
this lesson! God longs to bring us all to the 
place where Job found his blessing. Is there 
any self life in us? Let us pray God to take 
it away before we may have to pass through 
our days of affliction. And if, O child of God, 
affliction comes, do not be discouraged. It 
may be God's only way of bringing the greater 
blessing. 

Let me now give you some other examples 
that have come to me out of present-day life, 
which will help to impress the truth that this 
remarkable story of Job has taught. 

Some years ago there lived in a neighboring 
State a thrifty young business man. At an 
early age he demonstrated that God had en- 
dowed him with a great talent for money-mak- 
ing. And although poor, this talent brought 
him abundant opportunity to engage in busi- 

184 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN 
Luke 10 : 30—37 



GALLERY OE SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST AND THE STSTKRS OF BETHANY 
Luke 10 : 38—42 



ness. A gentleman of much wealth and expe- 
rience offered him money, which he gladly ac- 
cepted. A few years passed and the poor boy 
was counted a rich man. At the beginning of 
his business career he married. His wife was 
a good woman, but like many others, her in- 
terest in religion grew less as she grew in 
wealth. How strange this is, and yet how 
many, many times true. 

When they were first married, the young 
wife was faithful to her church and all her 
Christian obligations. A family altar she kept 
up for a while. But when prosperity began to 
come, the family altar was given up, the church 
was neglected, and social functions allowed to 
take the place of her church societies and relig- 
ious gatherings. Of course, this encouraged 
the young money-making husband in the neg- 
lect of his soul. 

Such indifference on the part of wives al- 
ways bears the fruit of neglect on the part of 
husbands. They may not admit it, but it is 
true. A mighty responsibility this is for wives 
and they ought to realize it. 

185 



During the course of time God gave them a 
beautiful boy. He was very bright and 
sprightly. His presence cheered the young 
home like a sunbeam. Many were the plans 
outlined for his future. Finally when he was 
six years of age, and parental hope and aspira- 
tions kindled with the thought of starting him 
to school, the little fellow was taken ill. At 
the time the father was away on a business 
trip. One morning a messenger boy called at 
his hotel and delivered to him this message: 
"Willie is sick; come home." 

Of course no more business was transacted 
that day, for father was on the first train mak- 
ing for his home. When he arrived, he was 
met at the door by some friends, who said, 
"Step lightly, he is very nervous." "Oh hor- 
ror! Is it that bad?" This was his cry as he 
was given this sad warning, "Don't take on 
that way," they said, "He can not stand it." 
No one who has not had something of this ex- 
perience can appreciate the broken heart of 
that young father. Finally he was admitted 
into the little sick chamber. Little Willie was 

186 



lying with half -closed eyes and sunken cheeks. 
Some friends were watching with the faithful 
mother, whose heart was bleeding not only 
over the suffering of her child, but too, because 
she felt her neglect of duty had shut Christ out 
of her home. 

"0 Christ," she would whisper, 6 'Come in 
now. Come in now, Jesus, come in now. I 
will be faithful in the future." What re- 
morse ! How much better to have kept Jesus 
when she once had Him in her home ! But it 
is too sad to offer a rebuke. Dear mother, do 
not lose your grip on Jesus. You will need 
Him some day. Hold on to Jesus. He is your 
best friend after all. 

It was a greater struggle for the father 
though than the mother ; partly due to the fact 
that he had no hope in the beyond, where he 
knew Willie was bound to spend eternity. 

As they all sat and cried, Willie opened his 
little half -shut eyes, and with a smile on his 
little pinched face, said very tenderly, "Papa, 
the angels have come to take your boy home." 

187 



It was a sweet testimony, but how it tore 
that father's already bleeding heart! Just 
then a strange voice he seemed to hear. It 
spake to him with all the tenderness of his dy- 
ing child, " Prepare to meet thy God." 

Soon little Willie was dead. His mouth had 
opened for the last time on earth, as it breathed 
out his spirit as it went up, to be with Jesus 
and the angels. But listen, another thing hap- 
pened just then! While Willie's spirit went 
up, God came down and papa had opened his 
heart and received J esus as his Savior. Moth- 
er 's life was changed: she had come back to 
God and made up her mind to stand by her 
church instead of pleasures. What a sermon 
that was that Willie preached ! 

But let us see yet a little further. Three 
weeks after this the death Angel called again 
at this home. Papa is dying now, and the last 
thing he said was. "The angels have come to 
take me home." What a blessed testimony! 
How gracious was God to speak to him in time, 
"Prepare to meet thy God." 

188 



Listen, have you been spoken to to-day*? Do 
you not now hear someone saying " Prepare to 
meet thy God?" Has He not spoken through 
the vacant chair, the empty shoe, the absent 
form? Don't drive the Spirit away from you 
to-day. Grod is working with you. He wants 
to prepare you for eternal life. 

Are you a cold, worldly, selfish Christian? 
Do you long for self-satisfaction, self -glory, 
self -ease more than that the precious Savior 
may be glorified, and lost and dependent souls 
may be saved and built up ? Then be ready to 
bear it — just so sure as Grod reigns in heaven 
will His afflicting hand be felt to bring you 
back! Don't wait, dear soul. The pang will 
be so severe. Prevent it now, by a full surren- 
der of your comforts for the sake of others. 
Time is flying. Open the heart and let Him 
in ! He is your best friend, and wants to pre- 
pare you to live with Him and His angels. 

Here is another instance : The mother, a 
widow, was delicate, but she worked for her 
children from morning till night. Before she 
left for school in the morning, Bessie would go 

189 



to her mother and say, "I don't like the way 
you have done my hair — you must do it again. ' ' 
Then she would pull off the ribbon, and tangle 
her hair, and worry her mother until it was to 
her liking. 

She would play on her way to school and 
reach home at the last minute, late for dinner, 
and would call out, "Oh mother, I must have 
my dinner this minute, or I shall be late for 
afternoon school. What is there for dinner?" 
And if it was not what she fancied, she would 
give way to a terrible temper, and leave for 
school dinnerless. 

At last, just after Bessie's fifteenth birth- 
day, and when her chief thoughts were of going 
out, and reading, and dressing, the doctor call- 
ed her aside, and spoke seriously to her : ' ' For 
years," he said, "your mother has waited on 
you, and in this way she has increased her ill- 
ness. Now she will never walk again, and it 
is your turn to wait on her. There is One 
whom your mother knows and loves who will 
take all you do for her, as done for Him; it is 

190 



the highest service, are you prepared to enter 
it?" 

Bessie was shocked. In a moment her heart 
was touched. "Oh! how selfish I have been," 
she cried, 1 i Oh doctor, is it true what you say 
of mother?" " Every word of it," was the re- 
ply. " Just ponder over it." Bessie crept up 
stairs weeping, with a feeling in her heart that 
the world somehow had suddenly come to an 
end. 

She listened outside her mother's door, and 
heard her praying, "Dear Father, who lovest 
my child more and better than I can ever love 
her, soften her young heart and help her to 
bear this burden. Oh, Jesus, open Thine arms 
very wide that I may more closely lean upon 
Thee, for I need Thee in my helplessness, more 
than ever!" 

Bessie heard, and rushing into the room she 
fell at her mother's bedside, and in a fit of re- 
morse exclaimed: "0 mother, my heart is 
broken ! Forgive me for all the past, and by 
God's help I will devote myself to you every 
hour." Mother and daughter became united 

19] 



in the sweetest bonds, for Jesus was their Sav- 
ior and Comforter, and it was beautiful and 
touching to see them together in the days of 
the mother's dependence on her daughter — the 
mother leaning on the child. 

"What first touched you?" Bessie was 
asked. "Mother's gentle trust in God, and the 
way she prayed for me," was her reply. "I 
had often heard her pray before, but the doc- 
tor's words 'She will never walk again,' 
seemed to break my heart and I felt as if Grod 
had put her into my idle arms to fill them." 

Many used to watch Bessie wheel her mother 
into the sunshine, and the mother's happy 
smile would follow her as she went in and out, 
and waited upon and cheered the invalid every 
hour of the day. 

A letter came one day from an uncle, ask- 
ing Bessie to come to him and his wife, and 
they would make her heir to all they had, for 
they were childless. Bessie wrote: "I have 
a most blessed charge in a sick mother, whom 
1 would not leave for all the wealth in the 
world. For fifteen years she spent her life for 

192 



me, and God had to lay her aside before I 
could be brought to see the evil of my heart 
and ways, and the selfishness and uselessness 
of my own robust health. ' ' This so stirred up 
the uncle and aunt that they came to see the 
widow and Bessie, and the perfect unity and 
sweet Christian life of mother and daughter 
won them both for Christ. Oh, how God used 
this affliction ! 

Every day we run up against broken hearts. 
Many of you do not dream of the number in 
your midst; mothers broken-hearted over the 
sins of their children. J ust the other day, one 
of the best women in this city had me to call 
upon her that she might talk with me about 
her wayward boy. He had gone from a lap 
of luxury into a life of disgrace. He had gone 
from a good mother to a crimson world. My 
heart ached with hers as she told me about it. 

Not long ago, I received a letter from an- 
other mother. Her daughter was in the city. 
She had run away from home, lured by the 
devil. She had come to this great city world, 
to live a life of shame. I succeeded in finding 

193 



this daughter, and among other things said to 
her, "If I were in your place, before I would 
longer draw upon the tender cords of a loving 
mother's heart I would take a revolver and 
blow my brains out. Or perhaps, it would cer- 
tainly be no worse than that which you are do- 
ing, I would go to her, and end her life." 

What is the difference? There are thou- 
sands of young men and women, who are inch 
by inch shortening the lives of good mothers 
and fathers. Is that to continue? My boy, 
have you made up your mind that you are go- 
ing to continue breaking the hearts of loving 
parents ? If so, try to end matters at once. 

Mother and father would a great deal rather 
be dead than continue to go on suffering, to a 
premature grave. To me it is an awful, sad 
picture; faithful, honest, true parents with a 
worldly, godless, reckless child, trampling 
upon their hearts. Oh, my boy, why will you 
do it? Will you not stop to-day and turn 
your face to God ? 

I believe in specific medication. Treating 
symptoms will do, until we get back to the orig- 

194 



inal cause. The man who treats pneumonia 
without regard to the cause which produces it, 
is worse than a charlatan. A well-trained 
physician wants to get underneath names and 
symptoms, to the original cause. 

Some time ago, a prominent citizen of Chi- 
cago was shot. General paralysis of the limbs 
resulted. I do not know who the surgeons 
were that attended him, but I do know that 
they never stopped a minute to reckon with 
paralyzed limbs. They took up the line of par- 
alysis, followed nerve after nerve until they 
located the bullet. And when the bullet was 
located, they never stopped until they had ex- 
tracted it. There was no need to think about 
paralyzed limbs. 

When I was a young man, I was much of my 
time in a drug store. I used to be impressed 
by the amount of medicine sold for the cure of 
catarrh. I have no doubt much of it did good 
service for a time. It was symptomatic treat- 
ment. But when I learned more of the cause 
of the disease, I put less confidence in these 
remedies. I know that back behind the symp- 

195 



torn which we call catarrh, there was a mechan- 
ical derangement. There is a cause which 
must be reached. 

So in dealing with sin, what we want to real- 
ize is, that back behind every phase of wrong- 
doing there is the devil. Some of us spend 
more time, I am afraid, upon the treatment 
of sins, than we do of trying to be rid of devil 
possession. 

The devil is a personal being. Prom birth 
he has us in his possession. When we are 
saved, through faith in Christ's atonement, the 
power of Satan over us is broken. Jesus then, 
who is master of the devil, puts Himself at 
our disposal to fight against satanic power. 

How we need to realize this fact. It would 
change our method of treatment. When an 
unregenerate sinner comes to us, one affected 
with this or that expression of satanic posses- 
sion, with drunkenness, or lying, or murder, or 
adultery, or any symptoms whatever, it is use- 
less for us to stop to argue with him on these 
lines; to be sure, we may accomplish some- 
thing by doing so — we may stimulate his pride, 

196 



or frighten him, but the thing to do is to get 
back behind the symptom and deal with the 
cause. The trouble with such sinners is not 
their sins, but the devil. He has them fast in 
his grip, and is dealing out to them what in the 
nature of the case is most suited. We are to 
tell such a sinner to go at once to the Christ of 
the cross and have the devil dethroned, that 
he may step out in liberty. 

When a regenerate sinner gets afflicted with 
this or that expression of devil possession — we 
can well afford to talk with him concerning this 
matter. We can show him, with hope of suc- 
cess, the wrong of his course, but even this is 
not the ideal treatment. We are, even under 
such circumstances, to go back to the cause. 
We want to take such a sinner, saved by grace, 
back to Jesus, Who, when we were saved, 
offered Himself as "a way of escape." 

God help us to see this! It is the world's 
great crying need to-day. Souls are in the 
power of Satan when Christ through Calvary's 
cross is ready to break the power. 



197 



BEYOND THE BLACK CREPE. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Beyond the Black Crepe. 



SUNSET and evening star, 
And one clear call for me ! 
And may there be no moaning of the 
bar, 

When I put out to sea, 
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the boundless 
deep 

Turns again home. 

"Twilight and evening bell. 

And after that the dark! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark; 
For though from out our bourne of time and 
place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
When I have crossed the bar." 

There is nothing so solemn as death. He is 
the one dreaded enemy of the world, whether 
barbarian or civilized. He regards no person, 
has no pity, and knows no fear. He comes 
when he sees fit, and asks no permission. He 

201 



stays as long as he desires and leaves when he 
gets ready. He enters hut and palace alike 
and lays his hand on whomsoever he will. 
There is nothing we dread to contemplate like 
death. 

A great Kentucky statesman who died many 
years ago, was visited by his wife's minister 
several days before his death. The minister 
asked him how he felt as he realized the ap- 
proach of death % And the dying man replied, 
"Do not talk to me about death, that is some- 
thing I have never allowed anybody to do. It 
is sad enough to die, let alone to live in the 
midst of death.' ' 

I must say that I sympathize with his feel- 
ings a great deal. The subject of death has 
always been hard for me to handle. I never 
like to preach on it. I remember preaching 
on it one night, and a leading physician came 
to me and said, ' ' Do not ever preach on that 
subject again. It is too awful for men to have 
to face. If you say it is necessary to make men 
prepare for the other world, why then, go 

202 



ahead ! but let me know when yon are going to 
preach on it, and I will not be present. " 

Some people do not believe in presenting 
such subjects, even for the purpose of causing 
men to prepare for the other world. But as 
for me, I am sure when I get to heaven, I will 
thank God for everyone who tried to arouse me 
to become a Christian. 

Death is not half so serious as to be lost in 
death; indeed, death itself is nothing but the 
gateway to the higher and better life, if one 
only is prepared. This is what makes death so 
solemn, and this is why I am dealing with it 
now. 

Let us now look at some great facts about 
death. There is nothing new about them. It 
is not my business to set up a new gospel. 
What I want is to present some plain, simple 
every-day facts about death, for the purpose 
of turning our thoughts in a more serious 
channel than they have been. 

The first great fact is that everybody has got 
to die. Life is like a game of chess. Some are 

203 



kings, some bishops, some knights, and so on ; 
but after a while they all go in the same bag. 

Death is a great reservoir: day by day we 
draw so much from it. Day by day we use up 
so much of it. No one knows how nor when 
the last draw will be made ; no one knows how 
much remains in the reservoir. 

Father, you do not know. It may be this 
very night you will make your last draw, and 
to-morrow morning wife and children will be 
standing round your cold body, and looking 
down into your dead face ! 

Mother, you can not tell. The end is com- 
ing; you know this very well, but you do not 
know but that to-night you will make your last 
draw on the reservoir for life, and to-morrow 
morning the best friend your family ever had, 
yes, — mother friend, will be gone. 

Young man and young woman, you can not 
tell. Life now looks to you like a long journey, 
with a beautiful landscape, and pleasant com- 
panions to cheer you on the way: it may be 
so ; but it may be otherwise. To-night you may 
make your last draft on the reservoir of life, 

204 



and to-morrow morning, what once promised 
to be such a long life, may be covered up with 
death. 

Death is like the passing of two ships on the 
sea; the men on either ship think themselves 
standing still; and the other to be swiftly at 
sail, whereas they both sail on towards the 
point intended, but the one faster than the 
other. So it is with us. We see an old man 
with a staff in his hand: "Poor old man!" 
say we. "He can not live long." 

Some sick friend we visit ; we think she can 
not live long. A funeral procession passes by, 
and we say "somebody is dead." This is the 
constant experience of life ; but how few of us 
stop to ask whether or not it will be ourselves 
that will be next ? We may get there long be- 
fore the old man with his staff: yea even be- 
fore the funeral procession reaches the ceme- 
tery we may be cold in death. We may know 
this, but we do. not realize it. 

Some time ago a friend of mine lost his only 
child. He and his wife had agreed that they 
would not weep when the end came ; but they 

205 



could not keep their promise. After the little 
one died the mother was seen walking up and 
down, swinging her arms, as if she had some- 
thing in them that she was very careful about. 
Her husband saw her swinging her arms in 
this way, and went to see what was the matter, 
and found that she was crying! "Wife," said 
he, "you promised not to weep for the little 
one : we promised together, and now here you 
are crying like this!" "You are mistaken," 
said she, "I am not weeping in the way you 
think ; but my heart is about to break." "Yes," 
said he, "but God has our little one and we 
ought to be content." "Yes," said she, "I 
know all that, and I am content that way : but 
oh, my arms are so empty! my arms are so 
empty!" This good woman realized death: she 
had known about it before, but the emptiness 
of her arms brought the realization of it. 

We need now and then such realization of 
it. We need to realize that death is on our 
track, and no man can tell how soon his thin, 
long, bony fingers will be rattling at the door. 

Again, we have got to die when and where 

206 



God calls. We may be like the man in the par- 
able whose ground, under the blessing of God, 
brought forth fruit plentifully, and who said 
to his soul, "Thou hast much goods laid up 
for many years : take thine ease, eat, drink and 
be merry." Like him we will have to give it 
up and go, when and where God calls. 

One of the most pathetic struggles I ever 
read about, was the struggle of one of our rich- 
est men many years ago. He counted his 
wealth by the millions, but he was taken ill and 
he saw his danger. He said to his physician, 
"All that I have is at the command of science, 
if it will only destroy this disease." He trav- 
elled all over the world. He carried with him 
an expert scientist, and every facility with 
which to be treated, but at last, came back 
home to die like other people. 

God is not going to pass you, O man of 
wealth! Nor for pity sake will He pass you, 
O man of poverty ! When the time comes He 
will clip that brittle thread we call life, and 
let you fall into the outstretched arms of this 
never-satisfied monster, death. This call may 

207 



be sudden: it often is. During the last few 
years I have watched for sudden deaths, and 
have found that they are far more common 
than formerly. Almost every day we are 
startled with the announcement of sudden 
death. 

Once I closed a great meeting, and a young 
man under great conviction said, "I will not 
act to-night : I know that it is right, and I see 
the way of duty clear ; but somehow I am not 
willing to act to-night." 

I said to him with as much feeling as I ever 
had when speaking to a man, "O young man, 
do not talk that way; remember what God 
says: 'He that being often reproved, harden- 
eth his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and 
that without remedy.' " 

"Does it make you tremble?" "Yes," said 
he, ' i but I am not willing to act to-night. ' ' What 
do you think happened to that young man 
within twenty-four hours? Why he was rid- 
ing down the streets where he lived on his bi- 
cycle and was struck with lightning and in- 
stantly killed. Go on trifling with God, and 

208 



laughing at what He says if you will : but Oh ! 
let me warn you that the day is coming, and 
it may now be at hand, when His mercy will 
give place to His wrath. 

Again when death comes, we must die just 
as we have lived. Some people rely a great 
deal upon the hope that they will repent upon 
their death bed. It may be that now and then 
one does repent on the death bed and is saved. 
I think I have known some few cases of gen- 
uine salvation on the death bed, but they are 
very few. As a general thing death-bed re- 
pentances are spurious. 

I know a man who was on his supposed 
death bed. Everybody thought he was going 
to die : he thought so himself. He sent for the 
minister to baptize him, after he had professed 
conversion. The obligation of the church was 
read; and water was sprinkled on him, and 
then he was given communion. All this was 
done at his own request. It looked like a gen- 
uine conversion. But that man got well, and 
when he was told what the preacher did during 
his illness it made him mad, so mad that he 

209 



abused every member of the family for allow- 
ing it to be done. 

I know another man who had a long spell of 
typhoid fever. During the progress of the dis- 
ease he professed conversion, and promised to 
live a better life, if God would restore him. 
God heard his promise, and restored him to 
health ; but he was never converted. He went 
back on every promise he made, and a few 
years ago, he died quite suddenly. 

I wonder how many have gone back on such 
a promise ? It may have been recently that God 
warned you, by some providence in your life. 
You promised to do better ; yes, you promised 
to give yourself to Christ, and openly con- 
fess him by church membership, but you 
have not done it. What do you think of God's 
attitude toward you? Would you have any 
complaint to make if He should say this very 
night "Thy soul shall be required of thee?" 

But finally, when death comes, all hope of 
preparation is ended. Brand the man as your 
worst enemy who talks to you about future 
probation. If Jesus ever taught anything it 

210 



was that life is the only time to prepare for the 
beyond. 

See that awful picture drawn by the Lord 
Himself of the rich man and Lazarus. The 
rich man had lived for self and was not pre- 
pared when death came. The record says that 
"He lifted up his eyes in hell, being in tor- 
ment;" but that is not the only thing He says 
about him. He says he cried for mercy, but no 
mercy came, he cried for water, — just a drop 
of it — to cool his tongue, but no water was 
given him. Oh, the awf ulness of this picture ! 
Who can look at it and not shudder ? God 
knows how it effects me. Not that I ever ex- 
pect to know the fate of that rich man, for I 
never expect to, but I tremble for the soul not 
prepared to die. 

I have seen sinners die : I have heard their 
cries. I know something of what it means to 
watch a hopeless soul pass into eternity. There 
can be nothing more terrible. 

In an asylum out west, is a man who just at 
twelve o'clock every night, jumps up and lays 
hold of a chair and begins to make a noise like 

211 



a train, and tlien screams like a number of 
frightened souls. He keeps this up for about 
ten minutes, and then says " Oh, if I had ! Oh, 
if I only had!" There is a story back of his 
conduct : he was a switchman guarding a track 
near the river. One night he went to sleep at 
his post of duty, and a passenger train came 
crashing by and went down into the river. The 
first he knew of it was while the train was pass- 
ing; he sprang to the switchboard and pulled 
with all his might, but it was too late ! 

Oh, how many souls there are now, tugging 
away at the switchboard of lost opportunity! 
The train of life is already past and there is 
nothing left but remorse. 

But O, thank God, there is another side to 
this death picture ! A minister friend of mine 
was telling me of a visit that he made to a hum- 
ble cottage, in which an old grandfather was 
nursing a little granddaughter who was dying. 

" She's going, doctor," said the old grand- 
father, "she is rapidly going." 

"Does she know her condition?" asked the 
preacher. 

212 



"Well, I think she does/' answered the old 
man. "Tell the preacher how you feel, 
daughter,' ' he continued. 

"O, I feel so happy," said she. 

"Are the waters chilly ¥" said the preacher. 

"No/' said the child. "They are not chilly, 
and they are not wide : I can see the other side 
of the shore." 

"Do you see anybody'?" he continued to 
ask. 

"Yes, I see heaven and sweet faces. I think 
I see mama and papa. Oh, the music, the mu- 
sic! It is not a dream, it is heaven. Don't 
weep, grandpa, but come on and let's go to- 
gether." 

Oh, that we may all have this preparation 
for death. It makes no difference then 
whether we are called at home or abroad, we 
will be safe forevermore. 

"It seemeth such a little way to me 
Across to that strange country — the beyond ; 

And yet not strange, for it has grown to be 
The home of those of whom I am so fond. 

They make it seem familiar and most dear, 

As journeying friends bring distant countries 
near. 

213 



"And so to me, there is no sting in death, 
And so the grave has lost its victory. 

It is but crossing with abated breath 
And white set face, a little strip of sea. 

To find the loved ones waiting on the shore 

More beautiful, more precious than before." 



"Nay, why should I fear death, 
Who gives us life and in exchange takes 
breath? 

"He is like cordial spring 

That lifts above the soil each buried thing. 

"Like Autumn, kind and brief — 
The frost that chills the branches, frees the 
leaf. 

"Like winter's stormy hours — 
That spread their fleece of snow to save the 
flowers. 

"The lordliest of all things, 

Life lends us only feet, death gives us wings ! 

"Fearing no covert thrust, 

Let me walk onward, armed with valiant trust. 

"Dreading no unseen knife, 

Across death's threshold step from life to life! 

214 



"0, all ye frightened folk, 

Whether ye wear a crown or bear a yoke. 

"Laid in one equal bed, 
When once your coverlet of grass is spread. 

"What daybreak need you fear? 
The love will rule you there which guides you 
here ! 

"Where Life, the Sower, stands 

Scattering the ages from his swinging hands. 

"Thou waitest, Reaper, alone, 

Until the multitudinous grain hath sown. 

"Scythe-bearer when thy blade 
Harvests my flesh, let me be unafraid ! 

"God's husbandman, thou art! 
In His unwithering sheaves, oh, bind my 
heart!" 



215 



"SOMETIME. 



CHAPTER XII. 

■ ' Sometime." 

SOMETIME, when all life's lessons have 
been learned, 
And sun and stars f orevermore have 
set, 

The things which our weak judgments here 
have spurned, 
The things o'er which we grieved with lashes 
wet, 

Will flash before us, out of life's dark night, 
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue ; 

And we shall see how all God's plans are right, 
And how what seemed reproof was love most 
true. 

"And we shall see, how, while we frown and 
sigh, 

God's plan goes on as best for you and me; 
How, when we called, He heeded not our cry, 

Because His wisdom to the end could see. 
And even as wise parents disallow, 

Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, 
So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now, 

Life's sweetest things, because it seemeth 
good. 

"And if, sometimes, comingled with life's wine 
We find the wormwood, and rebel and 
shrink, 

Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine, 
Pours out this portion for our lips to drink. 

219 



And if some friend we love is lying now, 
Where human kisses can not reach his face, 

0, do not blame the loving Father so, 
But wear your sorrow with obedient grace ! 

"And you shall shortly know that lengthened 
breath 

Is not the sweetest gift Grod sends His friend 
And that sometimes, the sable pall of death, 

Conceals the fairest boon His love can send. 
If we could push ajar the gates of life, 

And stand within and all Grod's workings 
see, 

We could interpret all this doubt and strife, 
And for each mystery find a ready key. 

"But not to-day. Then be content, sad heart! 
G-od's plans, like lilies pure and white un- 
fold. 

We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart, 
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. 

And if, through patient toil, we reach the land, 
Where tired feet with sandals loosed may 
rest, 

When we shall clearly see and understand, 
I think that we shall sav, 'Grod knew the 
best.' " 

— May Riley Smith. 



220 



THE PLACE OF PUNISHMENT. 



Luke xvi:25. — "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in 
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like 
manner evil things; but now here he is comforted, and thou 
art in anguish." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Place of Punishment. 

IN presenting this subject I am well aware 
of the fact that I am running contrary to 
the tastes and feelings of many good peo- 
ple. A woman said to me only recently, "I 
don't like to think of such teaching. " I said 
to her, "Nor do I, but I have to think and talk 
about a great many things that I do not like ; 
I do not like murder, but every day I hear of 
it being committed ; I do not like poverty, but 
all around us we see it ; I do not like sickness, 
but sometimes I have to suffer from it; I do 
not like death, and yet almost every day I am 
reminded of its reality. The fact that there 
are things we do not like does not argue that 
we should not consider them." 

Some years ago while on a preaching tour 
in England I had a talk with a man about this 
very subject, and he said to me, "Do you know, 
we in England have taken the word 'Heir out 
of the Bible?" "Yes," I said, "but the trou- 
ble is you have not destroyed the place: the 

223 



word amounts to nothing, it is the place that 
we have to fear." 

I should prefer to speak about heaven to 
you. It is my dream, and ever has been the 
dream of my soul. I go back in memory to 
my childhood when I used to sit on my moth- 
er's knee and listen to her talk to me about 
heaven. And from that day of my childhood 
until the present, it has been the one inspira- 
tion of my life. But, my friends, we are sur- 
rounded here by a world of sin. We only have 
to look around us to see it manifesting itself 
in all phases and forms and fashions. And 
there is a rule of life that sin calls for judg- 
ment, and judgment calls for justice, and jus- 
tice calls for punishment. From this there is 
absolutely no escape in this world or the next. 

Some time ago a man in one of the States 
was arrested who had sixteen years before 
committed the crime of murder. He was tried 
for his life. He was convicted and sentenced 
to twenty years in the State penitentiary. The 
day before he was to be taken to the prison 
he made his escape. He went to another State, 

224 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 





THE ANNUNCIATION 

Luke 1 : 26— 38 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




ADORATION OF THE WISH MEN 
Matt. 2:1—12 



changed his name, finally became chief of po- 
lice in one of the cities of the States, and held 
the position for ten years. During this time 
he raised a family. Finally he was detected 
and brought back to the State, and the Gov- 
ernor was asked to pardon him. But the Gov- 
ernor said, " Gentlemen, the law must take its 
course. Is your client guilty And they 
said, "He is guilty." 6 6 Then I have nothing 
to do but to let the law take its course ; he must 
pay his penalty." 

So he went out, and went into the State 
prison, and is there to-day serving his time of 
twenty years. Sin must and will be punished. 
I know we live in a sentimental age; an age 
when the love of God is made so broad and so 
high and deep as to cover up all justice. But 
love never covered up justice. And, if it be 
argued that God is too good to send a soul to 
hell, I answer: "God is also too good to be 
unjust; and the standard of God's justice is 
that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Good- 
ness and justice are twin attributes, and God 
must reward virtue and punish sin." 

225 



Besides, let me remind you that the soul, if 
it shall be so unfortunate as at last to go to 
hell, goes there not because God sends it, it 
goes there of its own volition, and goes there 
upon the principle that water seeks its own 
level. Hear what our Lord has to say: "And 
these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment; but the righteous into life eternal.' ' 
These shall "go/' They are not "sent," they 
"go." God sets before every man the stand- 
ard, and every man is held by God to that 
standard. If he will go this way, or that, it is 
for him to say. It is his own condition that 
sends him down or up. Oh, may God help us 
to see that ! There is only one hope, and how 
I would love to drum this into the ear of every 
man out of Christ. 

There is only one hope for the race of man, 
and the longer I preach, and the more I see 
of God and His Word and His method, the 
more I see of the necessity of this Gospel. One 
hope ! And that is in the atoning sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. If this be 
said to be an old, antiquated, out-of-date doc- 

226 



trine, then let me put myself alongside of the 
past; I am out-of-date, for this is my faith. 
There is only one hope for the race of man, 
and that is in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ on Calvary's cross. 

Let me come now at once to our subject, and 
I will ask first a few questions and endeavor 
as best I can to answer them. What is the 
place of punishment'? Prom a careful study 
of the New Testament Scriptures, leaving out 
the foolish sentimentality and ofttimes sense- 
less reasoning of so-called philosophers, we 
are forced to the following conclusions about 
the place of future punishment. First, it is a 
fact. Our Lord has said a great deal about it 
and His teaching concerning it is very explicit. 
If we destroy one we must destroy the other. 
If one is not a fact, then the other is a false- 
hood. If we destroy the one, we must preclude 
the other, for one is the essential complement 
of the other : as light follows darkness so pun- 
ishment follows blessing. 

Then again, we are to conclude that it is a 
place. Over and over again it is distinctly re- 

227 



ferred to as a place. Of course it is a state, 
just as heaven is a state, but state and place 
must go together in punishment as well as in 
blessing. I see a man, landed upon some is- 
land where there is not another human be- 
ing to be found. In this man's pocket is 
money, and to spare, but there is not a thing 
there to spend it for, and nobody to spend it 
with or on. That man is in the state to be 
happy as the world calls it, but he has no place. 

I see another man, landed upon an island of 
rich and rare beauty, full of people, and every- 
thing in luxury, and he has not a penny for 
his first meal: he has a place, but he has not 
the state. Both place and state are essential in 
happiness or punishment; and God has pro- 
vided a place for blessing and a place for pun- 
ishing. 

Then again, we are to gather from this teach- 
ing that it is a place of punishment. Hear 
Jesus' description of it. A few quotations: 

"Then said the king to the servants, 1 Bind 
him hand and foot, and cast him out into the 
outer darkness;' there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth." 

228 



"And cast ye the unprofitable servant into 
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth.' ' 

"So shall it be at the end of the world; the 
angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked 
from among the just, and shall cast them into 
the furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and 
gnashing of teeth. " 

"The Son of man shall send forth His 
angels, and they shall gather out of His king- 
dom all things that offend, and them which 
do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire." 

"And the Lord of that servant cometh in a 
day when he looketh not for him, and in an 
hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him 
asunder, and appoint him his portion with the 
hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnash- 
ing of teeth." 

"He shall tell you, 'I know you not whence 
you are, depart from me, all ye workers of in- 
iquity. ' There shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac 
and Jacob and all the prophets in the king- 
dom of God and you yourselves thrust out." 

"Therefore every tree that beareth not good 
fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." 

"It is better for thee to enter into life halt 
or maimed than having two hands or two feet 
to be cast into everlasting fire." 

229 



"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

" Where their worm dieth not and the fire is 
not quenched. ' ' 

"It is better for thee to enter into the king- 
dom of God with one eye, than having two eyes 
to be cast into hell fire; where their worm 
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." 

"Fear not them which kill the body but are 
not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him 
which is able to destroy both soul and body in 
hell." 

"Whosoever was not found written in the 
book of life was cast into the lake of fire." 

"He shall be tormented w T ith fire and 
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, 
and in the presence of the Lamb. And the 
smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever 
and ever and they have no rest day or night." 

All this is the teaching of Jesus. Are we to 
take this as literal or figurative ? Is this pun- 
ishment referred to by Jesus, and also by J ohn 
in his descriptive letter, a punishment of lit- 
eral fire, or is it something else ? I can not an- 
swer. I could try, I could say what I think ; 
but no man can answer. Is it literal fire? I 
do not know. Is it a figure of speech? I do 
not know. I know only this : If it is a figure 

230 



of speech, the thing that it figures is far worse 
than the figure itself. What is the use of a 
figure of speech in language? It is for one 
purpose, and that is to express what otherwise 
could not be expressed, to convey a thought 
that could not be conveyed without a figure. 
That is a figure of speech. 

If all this is figurative there is no comfort 
in that thought: if it is figurative, the thing 
figured is far worse than the figure. If it is 
only figurative fire, then in the name of God 
what is the real thing like ? 

But I grant, if you will, for argument's 
sake, that it is no more than the presence of 
memory, and the writhing and agonizing, and 
remorse of conscience. But oh! is not that 
enough? Have you never had conscience to 
serve you like that? Have you never gone 
contrary to conscience, and felt the teasing, 
gnawing sense of guilt I Oh, that to me is hell ! 
I remember preaching in a meeting some years 
ago, and one night there came to me a beauti- 
fully dressed woman — I found out afterwards 
that she was from one of the best families in 

231 



the land. She said, "Can I have a private in- 
terview with you?" 

I took her into the vestry, and said, "Now 
let me say before you tell your story that I am 
not a priest, and do not intend to have you tell 
me one single thing in the nature of a confes- 
sion. I want vou to remember that before you 
proceed another step. ' ' She said, ' ' I recognize 
it, but I think it would be helpful to me to tell 
you this : I have in my hand this roll. ' 1 1 said, 
"Yes, it is your diploma." "Yes, my diploma 
from one of the leading colleges of this land." 
6 ' Well, what has that to do with it ? " She said, 
"It is not my diploma." "But your name 
is on it." "Yes, but it does not belong there. 
I stole another girl's examination papers when 
in college, and gave her mine, and she failed 
and I got hers." 

Then she broke down and cried and I could 
not help crying with her. She said, "From 
that day to this I have lived in hell." Then 
she held up her finger, and there was a beauti- 
ful diamond circled by rubies, one of the pret- 
tiest rings I ever saw in my life. She said, 

232 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 
Matt. 19: 13-15; Mark 10: 13-16; Luke 18: 15-17. 



GALLERY OE SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




"Do you see that? That is not my ring." I 
said, ' 6 How did you get it ? " She said, 6 6 When 
I was a student in that college I stole it from 
another girl, though I had plenty of money 
and did not need to do it. After I had done it, 
I did not know how to put it back. I have only 
one word to impress you with my feelings: 
every time I look at it, and it flashes its beau- 
tiful light into my face, I sink within me ; it is 
like the fires of hell ! I have never known what 
it is to sleep, the doctors have treated me for 
insomnia for years, and all the time I have 
known what is the matter." 

Then she said, "I am in hell : can you lift me 
out?" And I said, "Yes, I think I can. I 
would send that diploma to that girl, and give 
that diamond back to the other." She said, 
"No, I can not; that girl is dead, and the girl 
from whom I took this ring I have no idea 
where she is. What shall I do?" 

Talk about fire ! That girl was in worse than 
fire! Oh, my friends, do not try to console 
yourselves with the thought that this is a figur- 
ative business. 

233 



But I must pass on: One thing more, this 
punishment, if we are to believe the Scrip- 
tures, is eternal. Go back over the teaching of 
our Lord, see the oft-repeated word, 6 ' ever- 
lasting," " eternal," " where the worm dieth 
not!" Such expressions as these are used 
about future punishment. I challenge any 
man to take his Greek Testament and follow 
these descriptive words about the duration of 
future bliss and future punishment and show 
any difference. I know that the word "eter- 
nal" is a word we can not grasp, and espe- 
cially when we come to think about punish- 
ment. We are not to bother with that. 

I remember as a student in college I got 
greatly awakened religiously once. It came 
after I heard a sermon in which a minister en- 
deavored to picture eternity. He used a figure 
that I feel like passing on to you, for it so 
blessed my boy heart and life, and maybe it 
will bless somebody else. I remember him 
standing there — a long, gaunt, ghost-like fig- 
ure he was — and saying, "I can not describe 
eternity to you, but I fancy this old world mak- 

234 



ing a revolution every thousand years, and 
losing as it goes around one atom each time, 
and when the last atom is lost and there is 
nothing left but space, I ask, * 6 What of eter- 
nity ?" 6 ' How much more?" And I hear com- 
ing back from that vast beyond only one word : 
" Eternity." 

But may I close with a more hopeful 
thought: may I say to you, there is absolutely 
no reason — and I thank Grod for it — why any 
man should ever experience this punishment 
after death. Thank God, He has purchased 
for every one of us a full and complete salva- 
tion. Would you know how to obtain it ? Then 
may I ask you to look just once upon Calvary. 
There, pouring His love out, is Jesus. Would 
you know what lies back of that ? It is a word 
that we can not express: it is "Love." 

Would you know what this love is like ? 
Here is a picture of it : 

A man of my knowledge and acquaintance 
with one child, a beautiful, loving, promis- 
ing boy ; a boy, however, like other boys. He 
was the pride of his father's heart and the joy 

235 



of his mother's life. One day the schoolmas- 
ter came to that man's home and in the pres- 
ence of his wife said to him, "I have come to 
ask about the boy; is he ill?" "Oh, no," they 
said, "why?" "He has not been at school 
to-day, and we have not seen him now for four 
days and thought he was ill." "My boy not 
been to school in four days! Why, he has 
never missed in his life!" said the mother, 
"and always the head of his class: I can not 
understand it." 

Then the husband looked at the wife, and 
she dropped her eyes, and the schoolmaster 
said to himself, " It is time to be going, things 
are serious here." And he left; and husband 
and wife sat together and thought without a 
word until supper time came. Then they went 
in to the supper table. The father tried to say 
grace, but somehow his throat got choked and 
he could not say it. And then he helped his 
wife and they started to eat ; but the more they 
chewed the bigger it got. Finally he laid down 
his knife and looked across at her, and she did 
the same thing to him. "Wife," he asked, 

236 



"why did you do that V "Just for the same 
reason that you did it," she answered. 

About that time in came the boy, and the hus- 
band got up and took his boy by his hand and 
carried him to the study, and taking his hand 
in his he told him the story and said, "Shall we 
pray % ' ' and they knelt down together. The lit- 
tle fellow's heart was sad, and he began to cry, 
and he put his arm around his father's neck 
and said, "Gk)d helping me, I will never do it 
again." But the father said, "Yes, I will for- 
give you, but there is a law of nature that sin 
must be punished; there is a little room up- 
stairs in the garret, and you will have to stay 
there for four days — just as long as you stayed 
out of school — and you can not have any books 
or magazines or friends to see you, and we will 
send your meals up." So he started up the 
winding staircase into the little garret room 
with only one small window. 

Finally the father came down and said, 
"Wife, can not you eat a bit now?" "No, I 
am thinking about the boy." Then they went 
into the library and sat down. He tried to 

237 



read and she to sew, but after a while she said, 
"Why, husband, you have got the newspaper 
upside down." And he looked and said, " And 
you are sewing the wrong piece in the garment, 
you look like you are making a crazy cover, 
wife ! ' ' " Maybe my sight fails me and I can 
not see," said she. " There is something wrong 
with my eyes, too," he said. Then the tears 
stole into their eyes and gushed down their 
cheeks, and he said, "I am thinking of our 
boy." 

The clock struck ten, eleven, twelve, one, 
two, after they had got into bed, but neither 
could sleep. After a while she said, " Hus- 
band, why don't you sleep?" He said, ' 'May- 
be for. the same reason that you don't: why 
don't you sleep, dear?" She said, "Well, I 
am thinking about our boy way yonder, and 
whether he is sleeping." He said, "I will go 
and sleep up there with him for a while." 
Then he started out and took a pillow in his 
hand and went away up the staircase until he 
came to the garret and, opening the door, there 
in the light of the lamp, for it had not been 

238 



blown out, lay the boy with his white, tear- 
stained face. He reached out an arm, and his 
father lay down by his side, and in a few min- 
utes they were both fast asleep. For four 
nights this father stayed in that room and 
slept with his boy. He suffered, though inno- 
cent, to put his boy right. 

Now, Jesus came to the garret room of sin 
and suffering for us. He did more than this 
father, He took our place and paid the debt 
we owed. God help us all to accept Him, and 
get His liberty and His freedom from the pun- 
ishment that awaits the unbelieving and the 
wicked. Matchless love of Jesus ! 



239 



LIFE'S WAY OF REWARD. 



Gal. vi: 7. — "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Life's Way of Reward. 
HIS is one text the devil hates. He 



derstand. He can not blur it nor 
sham it. It is a thing we see every day. There 
is not a man, whether Jew or Gentile, saint 
or sinner, that does not know it to be true. 
It is true in the history of the nations, and it 
is true in the history of individuals. 

At one time in the history of Prance she de- 
cided to rule the Bible out of her national 
life. It was taken from the homes of her peo- 
ple, and the enemies of truth thought they 
had won a mighty victory. Alas, alas, how 
mistaken France was! Prom that day when 
the Bible was ruled out until this present 
hour, the French people have been suffering 
from it. One bloody revolution after another 
has characterized her history. The moral 
history has kept pace with the downward 
course of her political history. 

At one time France was so immoral, it is 
said, that ten thousand dead infants were 




because it is so easy to un- 



243 



fished out of the sewer pipes around Paris in 
one year. What is this? It is a demonstra- 
tion of this text. This ought to open our eyes : 
if nothing else opens them, this should. There 
are people by the hundreds and thousands who 
have no higher interest in their community 
than the money they get out of it. Their plans 
and schemes are all cut to the pattern of the 
almighty dollar. 

We may go on here with our sowing of sin, 
but as sure as God lives, we have got to reap 
it. There are prominent men who would sell 
their community, hide and hoof to the devil, 
if they could get enough for it. What are 
Christian people going to do about it? Are 
we going to sit with our hands folded, and let 
ourselves be sold to the devil? If so, let us re- 
member " Whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap." 

It is true that a man expects to reap when 
he sows. If you see a man sowing wheat, you 
do not have to ask him what he expects to reap. 
If you see a young man working as an appren- 
tice in a machine shop for four years, getting 

244 



scarcely a living, you know that lie is expect- 
ing to learn a trade. When you see a student 
burning midnight oil, you know that he is ex- 
pecting an education. 

God help us to remember that this is like- 
wise true of our conduct. There are some 
who will not see this, because they do not stop 
to think. 

Once when I was speaking along this line, 
there was a young man in the congregation 
who said, "I am sick and tired of such silly 
preacher talk." He got up and w§nt home: 
the next morning when the paper came out 
with flaring headlines, giving an account of 
his misdeeds, it was plain that he had been 
taught a sad lesson. 

He had been a night drinker for twelve 
months, and had been spending his employ- 
er's money, and that very night his employer 
found it out. The next morning he was to be 
put behind prison bars. He begged his em- 
ployer's pardon, and offered to refund the 
money, and promised to live honest. His em- 
ployer said, "No, you have deceived me. You 

245 



have lived a double life, and I can not trust 
you ever again." That man knew then that 
that text was true. 

There are thousands of young men enjoying 
what they call " sowing wild oats." They are 
just as sure to reap a harvest of sin as they 
live. Some sad things have come under my 
observation in the last few years. Think of 
the many young men in the course of their 
wild-oat sowing, and have gone a step too far, 
and brought upon themselves shame and dis- 
grace. 

It is also true, that a man has to reap after 
the manner of his sowing. If a man sows bar- 
ley, he expects to reap barley. 

A colored man was once told to plant bar- 
ley, and he planted oats. At harvest time his 
master came to see how the harvest was, and 
to his astonishment found oats. He said to 
the old man : "Did I not tell you to plant bar- 
ley?" "Yes sir," said the colored man, "but 
I believe you're the wisest man I ever saw and 
I heard you say you was going to heaven, and 
you had been living for the devil : and if that 

246 



is true, a man can plant oats and reap barley. ' ' 
The old master stepped aside, and began to 
think. The result was he resolved to be a bet- 
ter man. 

I ask you, men and women, how do you ever 
expect to be anything sowing a life of dissipa- 
tion ? Cut out the text from the word of God, 
and take experience, and tell me how a man is 
going to heaven, sowing the devil's seed? 

A man has to reap more than he sows. A 
man plants a quart and reaps a bushel: he 
plants a grain of corn and reaps a hundred 
or more. 

One day a whole community in the West 
was greatly shocked by an awful murder. A 
boy was found by the roadside with his skull 
fractured, and his heart cut out of his body. 
It was discovered that the lad's playmate did 
it. When they traced the history of the trag- 
edy to its origin it was found that in the library 
of the playmate's father was a book giving 
an account of the life of Jesse James, the no- 
torious robber and murderer. It is said that 
every hideous page and passage was marked 

247 



with pencil. The book showed that it had been 
used oftener than any other book in the 
library. Perhaps the father never read it. 
He remembered buying it but denied reading 
it. But the boy got the hideous thing and fed 
upon it until his whole mind was on fire to do 
the devilish deed. And in a moment of rage, 
the pent-up fire was fanned into a flame, and 
the awful deed was committed. " Whatsoever 
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

Father and mother, I pray you in behalf of 
your son and daughter, in behalf of the com- 
munity in which you live, be careful what you 
let the young mind feed on. I believe the 
newspapers are responsible for many crimes 
by the manner in which the hideous deeds of 
to-day are written up. 

I remember once a young man was sentenced 
to die for the murder of a young woman. On 
the gallows, when asked if he wished to make 
a statement he said: ' ' Yes, but I do not care 
to make it to the whole crowd. I want to make 
it to a friend. Just say, for the good it may do 
some one else, the cause of my coming to this 

248 



place was whisky, bad women, and low-down, 
trashy novels/' " Whatsoever a man soweth, 
that shall he also reap." No wonder the devil 
hates this text. 

Brother, you keep on in the same road of sin 
you are going — just keep on. You say, "It is 
hard to break off." Then just keep on. It 
will be harder to-morrow, and harder the next 
day. It will cost you a mighty struggle to quit 
now, but it will cost you more than a struggle 
finally. If you can not quit to-day, pray tell 
me : How do you expect to quit to-morrow ? I 
would not be mastered by anything. I will not 
be a coward ! Can not quit ! God help you. 

There is one thing more I want to say. 
Jesus is ready to save the sinner; God be 
praised for the fact. If any one tells you it is 
too late to be saved, just put it down that that 
man does not know the Bible. Jesus can save 
the sinner, and will save the sinner when he 
comes to Him, it makes no difference what the 
sin is. He will help you quit; just ask His 
guidance. Hear Him say "I will, if thou 
wilt." 

249 



This is true: but sinner listen! He never 
promises to save from sin's consequences in 
this life. May I be better understood? Jesus 
Christ promises to wipe out sin, but He never 
promises to obliterate the scar that sin made. 
If you get drunk and somebody cuts off your 
nose, the Lord will forgive you for getting 
drunk, but He will not stick the nose back. 
Some people are going headlong in sin, and are 
expecting to stop after a while, and think it 
will be all right. Hear me : They have got to 
reap the fruit of sin, here, as sure as this text 
is in the Word of God. 

When I was engaged in the practice of medi- 
cine as a young doctor I was appointed on a 
committee to examine applicants for West 
Point. I examined them physically. There 
were twenty men who applied. The last young 
man was one of the handsomest fellows I ever 
saw. He was six feet in height and weighed 
about 200 pounds. When I saw that young 
man come in, I said to myself, "My! quite a 
giant of a chap to be only twenty years old." 

250 



One of the committee said to me, "He has 
made a round hundred on all our branches ; we 
leave him now to you to make your examina- 
tion." I said "You are such a handsome fel- 
low it seems hardly necessary to make a phys- 
ical examination: but I must: let me look at 
your teeth." He opened his mouth, and as he 
did so I was struck with horror. Said I, "My 
friend, no use going any further!" "What 
are you talking about 1 ?" asked he. Then he 
looked straight at me, and I said "You have 
teeth that point to a certain sin which is back 
of you." 

He broke down and cried, and I felt like cry- 
ing with him. He went home and told his 
father what I said, and his father wrote me a 
letter saying I had slandered his family. I 
said to him, "I am as sorry about it as you are, 
but I could not pass him." They called to- 
gether some of the leading doctors of the town, 
among them their family physician, who had 
never thought to examine him in that way. 
They said "There is no use going any further, 
it is true." Jesus Christ had doubtless for- 

251 



given the sin of that parent, but He did not 
stop the reaping ! 

0 young men and women, make up your 
minds that so far as you are concerned, the 
generation yet unborn shall not look back over 
such a history as that, and name you as guilty 
one. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap." 

One more example : I knew a bright, sweet, 
beautiful young woman who was very fond of 
going to the dance. She always went with 
some young man who did not care a whit for 
her health. Every night she had an oppor- 
tunity she would go. She danced longer than 
anybody, and bragged about it. She would 
come out of a warm room into the open air 
with no sleeves, no covering at her neck. With 
every nerve on fire with excitement, and every 
pore of her skin congested with blood, she 
would thus return home late at night, and re- 
tire. The next day she would sleep late, vio- 
lating every law of nature. 

Think of a father or mother with sense 
enough to keep out of an asylum, allowing 

252 



their daughter to live such a life of dissipa- 
tion ! What happened ? After a while she be- 
gan to cough. The physician found she had 
consumption, of which she ultimately died. 
Before she died she gave herself to Grod, and 
was saved ; but her life was not spared. You 
may get forgiveness for your sin, but the scar 
will stay with you for all time. 

I ask you in all candor and solemnity be- 
fore God, is it not time to stop sowing our wild 
oats ? The awful harvest is ahead ! The talk 
about pleasure in wild-oat sowing ; is it a pleas- 
ure to reap ? 

Dr. Wilberforce was walking on the Alps 
one day, and saw a mountain eagle alight near 
where he was standing, and take something in 
his talons, and soar away to the sky. He 
watched the eagle to see if he could find out 
what it was that he had, when suddenly he saw 
him turn, and then, as if shot with an arrow, 
tumble to the ground. He went to the place 
where the eagle fell; and there in his grasp 
was an Alpine weasel which he had taken for 

253 



his prey, but which had sucked the eagle's 
blood until it killed him. 

God help us to catch this thought ! Here are 
men and women who are holding within the 
talons of their affections some weasel. It may 
be lust, or bad habits, or some other sin. Think 
of the awful condition awaiting you when the 
weasel which you have hugged to your breast 
shall turn upon you and take you physically, 
morally and spiritually! God help us to ex- 
amine our seed before we sow. 



254 



THE LIFE WORTH WHILE. 



Mark x:21. — "One thing thou lackest." 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Life Wokth While. 

JESUS had just been doing some of His 
mightiest works, and the people were 
aroused. Never had man wrought such 
things. Crowds of curious, needy souls 
flocked around Him as He stood upon the 
street corner. 

In the crowd, gathered with such eagerness, 
were fond mothers, who brought their children 
and their babes, desirous that they should have 
a chance to see Jesus, the mighty wonder- 
worker. It was just like a mother, to desire 
that her child should have a chance to see what 
was going on ! 

And so they came from far and near, bear- 
ing their little ones, pressing their way 
through the crowd, holding them high over the 
heads of the throng that they might see Jesus. 

And the disciples were just like many of 
the disciples of to-day. They saw no place in 
the busy life of the Master for children, so 
they rebuked these mothers. They felt that 
Jesus should be giving His time and strength 

257 



to weightier matters, but Jesus saw this, and 
was moved with indignation and said: "Suf- 
fer them to come unto Me, and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven . . 
verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever shall 
not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
child, he shall in no wise enter therein/ ' What 
a mighty rebuke that was, and what a mighty 
truth it told! 

After this, Jesus went on His way, and there 
ran a young man to him and knelt and asked 
Him: "Good Master, what shall I do that I 
may inherit eternal life'?" This was the rich 
young ruler. He doubtless was on the street 
with the crowd, and heard J esus when He re- 
buked the disciples, and declared that to re- 
ceive the kingdom of God one must become as 
a little child. He doubtless understood that 
to apply to the street rabble— to those who 
were not supposed to be capable of self-gov- 
ernment. 

It was easy for him to see that that class 
needed complete subjugation to a higher pow- 
er, but he could not grasp the idea that it 

258 



meant to include him. He was one with au- 
thority. He could say to this man 1 1 Come," 
and he would come — and he could say to that 
one "Go," and he went. He was a man that 
ruled men ; and it never entered his mind that 
he must bow his knee, and acknowledge the 
rulership of Jesus of Nazareth. Hence the en- 
quiry, "What good thing shall I do that I may 
inherit eternal life?" I have no doubt but 
that he put emphasis upon the personal pro- 
noun "I." "I understand what you mean 
when you speak to the rabble of becoming as 
little children. I understand what you mean 
when you say that they must deny themselves 
and follow you : but what shall I, a man of my 
standing, a man of my intelligence, a man of 
my influence and power, what shall I do that 
I may inherit eternal life?" 

In this respect he was like many others. I 
have met them in every community. They 
think that there is one standard of salvation 
for them and another for other people. The 
rich, cultured and refined try to pursuade 
themselves that there is a standard for them — 

259 



that they can have privileges that others can 
not have. The poor and illiterate are just as 
anxious to set up a standard for themselves. 
They want to believe that their standard of 
religion is the only one. The same may be said 
with reference to the races; the white man 
wants to set up his standard — the colored man 
wants to set up his, the yellow man his, and so 
on. 

There is no general opposition to religion. 
Everybody wants to be saved; everybody 
wants to be religious, but they want the privi- 
lege of establishing their own religious stand- 
ard. This was true of the rich young ruler. 
He had an idea that the master would make an 
exception to him ; that while it was necessary 
for the ordinary man and woman of the streets 
to surrender his life to the mastery of Jesus, 
that it was not necessary for him; and hence 
the question, "What shall I do?" 

Jesus answered his question. He always an- 
swers honest questioners. Nowhere in all His 
life do we find that He was not willing to be 
put on trial, and so He is to-day. He is not 

260 



afraid of questions; He invites them. The 
Gospel which He has given is not afraid of 
questions. For all these centuries it has been 
held up, torn to pieces, dissected; and yet 
it stands. It is the one book that can not be 
destroyed. 

We hear men ofttimes wailing over the ef- 
forts of men to investigate the genuineness of 
the Bible. There is no need for fear concern- 
ing this. Every honest Bible critic who goes 
into his work of criticism with a desire to know 
more of God, will be rewarded. It is the un- 
sanctified destructive critic, the man who goes 
into it with the view of destroying the Bible, 
and marring the glory of God, that we have to 
fight, but even in fighting him we do not have 
to fight for a doubtful victory. We have seen 
enough to know that his life is short, and that 
his work in the end will fail. 

In coming to Jesus, the young man ad- 
dressed Him as "Good Master." This gave 
Jesus a pointer, and He seized upon it in a 
very unique way to answer the question. He 
asked him "Why callest thou Me goodf There 

261 



is none good save one, even God." That is to 
say, " First of all, do you understand that there 
is none good save God ; and if so, in calling Me 
'good,' and in calling me c Master' do you un- 
derstand that I am God, and the Master of 
your life?" This is clearly the Master's 
meaning at this point, and it opens up the 
whole question of salvation. To be saved, first 
of all, is to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God, 
and not only as God, but as the Master of one's 
life. 

Jesus would say to him, "You desire to be 
saved: you call Me Good Master: if I am 
good, then I am God, for there is none good 
save God. And if I am God to you and your 
master, as you say, then you are saved." 

To this the young ruler made no reply. Had 
he affirmed this, there would have been no fur- 
ther question, but he hesitated at that point. 
It was there that the first flaw in his character 
was found. 

Then Jesus took him into the question of 
law — the ethics of salvation, — for there is an 
ethical side to religion. It does not lead up to 

262 



religion, but it proceeds from it. Jesus did 
not discuss the question of ethics first. He first 
brought him face to face with His own Deity, 
and His Mastery. Then He proceeded to deal 
with the question of the ethics of life. Said 
He, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do 
not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, 
Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, 
Honor thy father and mother, ' ' and the young 
man said, "All these things have I kept from 
my youth up." 

You observe that he was very ready with an 
answer to the Master with reference to the 
question of ethics. He was just like thousands 
of good men to-day who have been blinded by 
the devil at this point. The devil wants noth- 
ing better than to get men and women to be- 
lieve that salvation is purely a matter of life. 
But it is not so. One may keep the whole of 
the ten commandments if possible, and still, if 
that is all, there is no salvation. Salvation pri- 
marily rests in Jesus Christ. He, as the God 
Man, atoning for sin is to be accepted as the 

263 



Master of life or there is no such thing as be- 
ing saved. 

The rich young ruler had done more than 
any of us. He had kept the entire law, so far 
as we know, and I have no doubt that it was 
true. Jesus never denied it. I believe that he 
had kept every commandment from his youth 
up, but it was not enough for Jesus. Looking 
upon him He loved him, but He said to him 
"One thing thou lackest." 

Now, it is our purpose to see what was this 
one thing lacking. It looks, from our point of 
view, like it is too much, that one thing only 
should keep a man out of heaven ; doubtless all 
of us have thought this as we faced the ques- 
tion. We have thought "If one thing lacking 
is sufficient to close the door of heaven against 
us, then Ave are hopeless." But we must re- 
member that one thing often is everything. 

When I first began life for myself I was a 
physician. I remember being called in one day 
to treat a child that had been given an over- 
dose of morphine. The child was dying when 
I got there. The father who was a very rich 

264 



man rushed up to me and said ' 1 Doctor, if you 
will save my child I will give you a check for 
$50,000." I said, "My dear fellow, you must 
remember that your child lacks what I can not 
give. It lacks breath." One thing! Just one 
thing lacking meant everything. 

Just after the Civil War in the States a man 
was riding through the Mississippi bottoms on 
a train. He looked out over the beautiful cot- 
ton field and said to a gentleman sitting by his 
side, "There was a time when I could have got 
this whole plantation for a single pair of 
boots." "What!" said his friend, "You do 
not mean it! Well, you fool, why didn't you 
buy it?" "Because, you fool, I didn't have 
the boots." One thing! just one thing may 
count for so much. It may count for every- 
thing. So in the matter of salvation. It is the 
one thing that is lacking. 

What is this one thing ? To see it, let us first 
look again at the young ruler. First, the one 
thing lacking was not a desire to be saved, he 
desired to be saved so much that he ran to 
J esus. When I see a young man that anxious 

265 



to-day I put it down that he is near the king- 
dom. The trouble is we have to run to them 
with the gospel rather than have them run to 
us to know it. He desired salvation, but desire 
in itself is not salvation, nor will desire in 
itself count for salvation. 

Again, it was not reverence that he lacked, 
for He reverenced Jesus so much that he came 
and knelt before Him. That was a great ac- 
knowledgment for him: he was a man before 
whom other men knelt, and for him to kneel to 
Christ, — a Man of Nazareth — that despised 
city ; and a man with no earthly station, whose 
followers were of the lowest social type, — for 
him to kneel before Him under such circum- 
stances meant a great deal. What a beautiful 
sight it must have been ! 

I have felt that if I were an artist, and were 
preparing to paint my masterpiece, I would 
take for my subject this young man, as he hum- 
bly kneels at the feet of the meek and lowly 
Nazarene. But this was not enough. Salva- 
tion is not desire, nor is it reverence. Here we 

266 



have both expressed in this character, and 
still he is unsaved. 

Again, it is not an upright, moral life. Mo- 
rality is a good thing ; I love a moral, upright 
young man. I am the last one in the world to 
say a word to undervalue good morals. It is 
the supreme need of the hour, next to salva- 
tion. 

There is no department of life that does 
not need it. It is needed in business ; oh, how 
much it is needed there to-day ! The rich and 
the poor need it. It is needed to regulate the 
great official interest of the world. Had we a 
high regard for it, there would be fewer cor- 
poration thieves robbing the people, and en- 
riching their own coffers. Had we a proper 
regard for it, there would be fewer political 
scandals; had we a proper regard for it the 
whole family of Adam would feel more closely 
drawn to each other, and there would be less 
of bickering, and striving, and personal ad- 
vantage sought. 

But let us not imagine for a moment that 
even a perfect moral standard would be salva- 

267 



tion. Far from it. Something has got to take 
place to change the inner life as well as the 
outer life. Man starts out wrong when he be- 
gins life. 

Yonder stands a railway train. It has a ca- 
pacity of one mile a minute, and absolutely no 
more. A reward of $1,000 has been offered the 
conductor and engineer if they will take that 
train a distance of sixty miles in one hour, 
which will be its full capacity, every mile of 
the way. When they start out they start a half 
minute late. It looks to be a small matter. It 
looks as if they might hope to gain one half 
minute in sixty miles. But do not forget that 
the capacity of that engine is only one mile per 
minute. They do their dead level best. They 
make every mile post on time, but finally come 
into the station at the end of the time a half 
minute late. They made a perfect schedule, 
but started wrong ! 

And G-od demands that we shall keep His 
schedule. This, no man can deny. He has 
given us certain capacities, and expects us to 
live up to them. Should we do this, and noth- 

268 



ing more, we would not be prepared at the end 
of the journey to receive the reward, for we 
must remember that we are born in sin, and 
shapen in iniquity. It does not take any Bible 
to prove this. 

The history of the race shows a natural ten- 
dency to sin. What we want, in order to be 
saved, is to receive the atoning work of Jesus 
Christ which makes up for past loss of time, 
and starts us so that the life that we live may 
count. 

In the case of the late train, if they had had 
some sort of bumper to give them a shove to 
make up for the loss of half a minute, they 
would have come in on time. That is what 
Christ is to us. What we call His atoning 
work on the cross is nothing more nor less than 
wiping out our past sin, and changing the old 
nature which tends toward evil at every point, 
and giving us one that tends toward good. Let 
us not fail to see this, for it is the most vital 
question in all life to be settled, and especially 
is that true at that period of life when you are 

269 



starting out to enter upon the broad field of 
usefulness. 

What, then, is the minus sign in this young 
ruler's character? Jesus answers that question 
in his requirement of him when He said, "Sell 
whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor." 
This is not to be considered as an answer to 
every enquiring soul. We must take the cir- 
cumstances into consideration, in order to 
know the Master's meaning. 

This young man started out by calling Jesus 
" Master." He doubtless thought he was sin- 
cere. He was good, pure and honest, and he 
thought he had reached the point where he ac- 
knowledged the mastery of Jesus over his life : 
but Jesus knew better, and He took this 
method of revealing to him the fact that he was 
mistaken. He touched him at the most vital 
point in his life. That point was his money. 
It is most always true with men who have 
money. Jesus knew this, and hence He said 
"Give up your money — all that you have. If 
I am your Master, as you have said, you will 
do it for My sake. If you do not, you will 

270 



know for yourself that you are mistaken in 
your profession." 

In other words Jesus said to him, " Accept 
Me as Lord and Master of your life. Accept 
Me as God, and then bow to Me as such not 
only in profession but in actual deed: let me 
be your Master, and that is salvation." 

But the rich young ruler could not stand 
the test, and he went away sorrowing. Ah, 
no wonder he was sorrowing. And I venture 
the assertion that the sorrow he experienced 
at that time, did not compare with what he af- 
terwards experienced, for in turning away and 
refusing to let Jesus master his life he turned 
away from the will of God, and that means 
everything. 

Let me impress this upon you for a moment. 
Would you know the highest success possible 
for each of you'? Do you desire to reach it? 
If so, let me assure you that it is only to come 
in proportion to your willingness to serve in 
the will of God where Jesus is Lord and Mas- 
ter of your life. 

271 



I shall never forget attending an entertain- 
ment when I was a college boy, by a celebrated 
hypnotist. I had declared that I could not be 
hypnotized, but after witnessing my friends, 
as they were under the influence of the hypno- 
tist, I was not so sure about it, but I was will- 
ing to be experimented upon, so I went upon 
the stage. The hypnotist was a man of strong 
personality, and by carrying me through cer- 
tain lines of manipulation he got control of 
my mind and will, and then he began to tighten 
his grip upon me until before I knew it I was 
entirely lost to myself, and under his sway. 

He was absolutely my master. When he 
moved, I moved. Where he went, I went. He 
took me up into the gallery, and all around 
and back upon the platform. I had no concern 
about it whatever. It was not to me a hard- 
ship, but a real pleasure. There was nothing 
that I would not have done after he had got 
me under his control. But it is only just to the 
scientific principle involved to say that this 
could never have taken place had I not given 

272 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




RAISING THE SON OF THE WIDOW OF NAIN 
Luke 7 : 11—16 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 

■ — - ■ •— — 



„. .. 

THE ANOINTING OF JESUS IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON 
THE PHARISEE 
Luke 7 : 36—50 « 



my consent. That, once given, the rest fol- 
lowed. 

This is what Jesus means to say to this 
young man. "Let Me be your Lord and Mas- 
ter if you are to be saved : do not content your- 
self with merely saying it in words, but in deed 
also; and when this is done, everything re- 
quired at your hands is easy." 

Oh, listen to Jesus at this point. He would 
give the highest possible success to every life. 
It is a misrepresentation and a slander to say 
that He has favorites among the children of 
men. He wants every man, white and black, 
to have the highest possible victory in the line 
of his life : but to give it, He must be Master. 
He knows what is best, and when He is made 
Lord and Master, He will give it. Would you 
have it? Then come to Him. Let Him have 
control of your life. Yield up your will, and 
let Him master it. Then, following Him is the 
natural order. Where He goes you will go, 
when He stops you will stop. 

This is the life that Jesus wants of us, and 
it is the life that the world waits to see. 

273 



THE CHANGED LIFE. 



Deut. vi: 23.— "He brought us out that He might bring us in." 



CHAPTER XVI. 
The Changed Life. 

OUT of the distance and darkness so 
deep, 
Out of the settled and perilous sleep ; 
Out of the region of shadow and death 
Out of its foul and pestilent breath ; 
Out of the bondage and wearying chains, 
Out of championship ever with stains ; 
Into the light and the glory of Cod, 
Into the holiest made clean by his blood ; 
Into His arms — the embrace and the kiss — 
Into the scene of ineffable bliss ; 
Into the quiet the infinite calm, 
Into the place of the song and the Psalm. 
Wonderful love that has wrought all for me. 
Wonderful work that has thus set me free. 
Wonderful ground upon which I have come. 
Wonderful tenderness, welcoming me home. 

"Out of disaster and ruin complete, 
Out of the struggle and dreary defeat, 
Out of my sorrow and burden of shame, 
Out of the evils too fearful to name, 
Out of my guilt and the criminal's doom, 
Out of the dreading, the terror, the gloom — 
Into the sense of forgiveness and rest, 
Into inheritance with all the blest; 
Into a righteous and permanent peace, 
Into the grandest and fullest release, 
Into the comfort without an alloy, 

277 



Into a perfect and confident joy; 
Wonderful holiness, bringing to light. 
Wonderful grace, putting all out of sight. 
Wonderful wisdom devising the way. 
Wonderful power that nothing can stay. 

* 1 Out of the horror that nothing of being alone 

Out and forever of being my own ; 

Out of the hardness of heart and of will, 

Out of the longings which nothing can fill ; 

Out of the bitterness, madness and strife, 

Out of myself and of all I called life ; 
Into communion with Father and Son, 
Into the sharing of all that Christ won; 
Into the ecstacies full to the brim, 
Into the having of all things with Him; 
Into Christ Jesus there ever to dwell, 
Into more blessings than words e'er can tell. 

Wonderful lowliness, draining my cup ! 

Wonderful purpose that ne'er gave me up. 

Wonderful patience, enduring and strong. 

Wonderful glory to which I belong. 

"Out of my poverty into His wealth. 

Out of my sickness, into pure health ; 

Out of the false and into the true ; 

Out of the old man, into the new ; 

Out of what measures the full depth of 'lost!' 

Out of it all, at infinite cost. 

Into what must with that cost correspond, 
Into that which there is nothing beyond, 
Into the union which nothing can part, 

278 



Into what satisfies His and my heart. 

Into the deepest of joys ever had. 

Into the gladness of making Q-od glad. 
Wonderful Person whom I shall behold. 
Wonderful story then all to be told. 
Wonderful all the dread way that He trod. 
Wonderful end, He has brought me to God!" 



270 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS 
Matt. 9 : 23—26 ; Mark 5 : 35—43 ; Luke 8 : 49—56 



GALLERY OE SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST PREACHING TO THE MULTITUDE 
Matt. 4:17; Mark 1 : 14, 15 ; Luke 4 : 14, 15 ; John 4 : 43— ' ' 



THE PLACE OF GOB. 



Gen. l: 19.— "Fear not, for am I in the place of God?" 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The Place of God. 



OU are aware that these words occur in 



connection with that thrilling and pe- 



culiarly pathetic story of J oseph after 
the death of Jacob, his father. The brethren 
of Joseph were very much afraid lest, now 
that their father was dead, J oseph should visit 
upon them that punishment which their sin of 
selling him into Egypt forty years ago de- 
served. They sent a committee to wait upon 
Joseph and to remind him of the pledge of his 
father and their father, and likewise the re- 
quest which he made that Joseph would for- 
give the sin of his brethren. 

It is said that Joseph, when he received this 
committee, wept with them. These brethren 
prostrated themselves upon the ground before 
Joseph, paying the greatest tribute that they 
could possibly pay, then they reminded him of 
their father's request, and implored him to 
forgive them. And then Joseph said the words 
which I have taken: "Fear not, for am I in 
the place of God*?" Of course he meant to 




283 



say that their request was granted ; that, being 
in the place of God, he could do nothing less 
than forgive. 

But these words have a far wider reach than 
that ; a far deeper and more significant mean- 
ing than that. In the first place, they assert 
that God has a place. It is well for us to rec- 
ognize this fact ; that God has in this great uni- 
verse of His a place where He is to be found. 
We are told that on one occasion a missionary 
in a foreign county was visited by a very dis- 
tinguished native, who was a heathen. This 
heathen came with this request, "Show me 
where God is." He was honestly and earn- 
estly seeking God, but he did not know where 
to find Him. The missionary's answer was, 
"He is where you now are." I am glad he 
made that answer. 

There are many people who are disposed to 
lock God up in a corner in some way. Some 
lock Him up in the church, requiring that 
those who want to find Him must find Him in 
the church and nowhere else. There never was 
a bigger heresy than that. The church is sim- 



284 



ply the place where those who have found Him 
assemble together to worship Him and to 
propagate His truth. 

Then, there are others who want to lock God 
up in their creeds and articles of faith. They 
would have everybody who seeks God, of what- 
ever temperament, to pass through their creed, 
their written confession of faith, in order that 
they might find Him. A creed may be ever so 
good a thing; I believe in a creed; I believe 
that the man who has no creed is the man who 
has no faith; for the creed is simply the ex- 
pression of what we believe. But, the creed 
was never intended to confine God, God is 
bigger than all the combined creeds of Chris- 
tendom. No man has yet found God simply 
by learning a creed. 

There are others who are wont to lock God 
up in an image. Some years ago I was privi- 
leged to look upon an image that was wor- 
shipped by a tribe of heathen. It was a 
hideous looking monster. At the back of the 
thing there was a round hole, and I asked the 
man who was exhibiting it the meaning of that 

285 



hole, and he said that it was there for the pur- 
pose of permitting the spirit of the god to en- 
ter into the image. There are others who want 
to place God behind the Virgin Mary, and they 
tell us it is impossible for us to find God un- 
less we reach Him by way of the Virgin 
Mother. 

It is well for us to stop and think of the nar- 
rowness of these conceptions of God's place. 
God has a place, and His place is everywhere. 
God's place is on the streets; God's place is in 
the store and the shop and the kitchen. God's 
place is everywhere in space and on earth, so 
if one should come to you like that heathen 
came to that missionary, saying, "Show me 
where I can find God," you can do no better 
than he did as he said, "Where thou standest 
is the place of God." 

This leads me to say also, that God has a 
place for all created things. He never created 
a single, solitary thing, animate or inanimate, 
that He did not have a place for it to fit in. 
Once I was in Florida and a friend showed me 
a fish; a peculiar fish to me, and he said, "This 

286 



fish can be found in no place in the world other 
than these waters." God made that special 
fish for that special place. 

From the most beautiful bird that flies in the 
air to the lowest worm that wallows in the dust, 
God has a place. No man or woman was ever 
born who did not have a place. There never 
was a child born, however deformed or crip- 
pled, that did not have a place in the plan of 
God. This to me lends a new dignity and a 
new solemnity to life. 

Dr. Bushnell, one of the greatest preachers 
that the world ever saw, left behind him when 
he went home to glory perhaps one of the 
greatest sermons ever put in print ; a sermon 
that has lived and will live as long as sermonic 
literature is read. The sermon is entitled, 
"The Plan of God." He says in that sermon 
that the greatest conception that ever entered 
his mind was that conception that led him to 
preach that sermon; the conception that God 
has a place for every man. When that thought 
took possession of him, he at once proceeded 

287 



to reform his life by handing it over into the 
hands of God that it might fit into God's place. 

Many of us, I dare say, can bear a similar 
testimony. I am frank to say that the great- 
est experience that ever came to my life was 
in Northfield, Mass., where I first realized that 
God had a definite niche for my life to fit in. 
When I became fully conscious of that fact, 
which I had known always, but had never fully 
grasped, and handed my life over as definitely 
as I knew how, I gained the biggest victory 
that I had ever gained in my life, and I af- 
terward passed through the greatest test that I 
had ever been forced to pass. 

When I went back to my pulpit, I remem- 
bered that there was an institution in that city 
which was doing more hurt to the morals of 
the community than anything else. I had felt 
for a long time that God wanted me to enter 
into a crusade against that institution and the 
people who ran it. I had a man in my church 
who was a member of it, and he was one of 
the chief supporters that I had. I labored 
with him as best I could to get him to give up 

288 



his connection with it, but instead of falling 
into line with me he said, "If yon follow up 
the line that you are considering you will have 
to surrender your pulpit.' ' That was in the 
early days of my ministry, and I did not know 
what to do. I thought perhaps a compromise 
might be the best thing, but God spoke to me 
as surely as He ever spoke to a patriarch and 
said, "What of your promise in Northfield?" 
How ashamed I felt, and how that nerved me. 

I went into my pulpit the next Sunday and 
turned the biggest battery that I could upon 
that institution, and I kept it up until I had 
the community stirred from centre to circum- 
ference. That man whom I had so dreaded 
came to me and said, "You will have to go. 
You would not listen to me." But my church 
said to him, "No. If there is any going you 
will go." He did go, but it was not any time 
before he came back and said, "I was wrong. 
I have pulled out from the institution, and 
here is my hand, that I will stand by you as 
long as we are both here." 

289 



That is only one chapter out of a series of 
conflicts that came to me by reason of the con- 
ception that God gave me of the fact that I 
was in His place. 

God has a place that He wants you to fill. It 
is not yours to select. Oh, that we would come 
to realize the fact that not one child is ever 
born that has not a place in which to fit. 

But these words assert even more than this. 
They assert the fact that in the place of God 
we are the representatives of God, and that in 
all circumstances we are to do as He would 
have done, and in this particular instance here, 
the instance of Joseph and his brethren, it is 
of a threefold character of representation. In 
the first place, he was to represent God in com- 
passion over the sins of his brethren. How 
compassionate Joseph was! They had griev- 
ously sinned against him ; bringing him down 
to slavery. It was through no effort of theirs 
that he was now a ruler, for they had sold him 
as a common slave. And yet, being in the place 
of God, he was baptized with the compassion 
of God, and if there is any one thing that char- 

290 



acterizes God more than any other one thing 
it is compassion. 

Would you have a picture of the compassion 
of Go&l Look at Jesus as He stands on the 
hilltop above the City of Jerusalem, looking 
down into the city, seeing it in all its sin and 
shame. Hear Him, as He breaks forth, "Oh, 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that stonest the 
prophets and killest them that are sent unto 
thee, how often would I have gathered thee as 
a hen gathereth her brood, and ye would not." 

Would you have a still greater picture? 
Look at the cross stained with the blood of 
Jesus. Hear Him cry, "Father, forgive them." 
In order to save this sin-cursed earth He is 
there on that accursed tree with His Father's 
face turned from Him. That is a picture of 
the compassion of God. There, on that cross, 
is a picture of the compassion that broke His 
heart; the compassion of love for this lost 
world. 

We have a few examples in our day and 
time of a wonderful compassion, of men and 
women who are so conscious of the fact that 

291 



they are in the place of God and the represen- 
tatives of God that they have agonized almost 
like the agony of the Savior. 

Go to Edinburgh, Scotland, into that little 
cottage in which old John Knox lived, and yon 
will feel as yon enter the front door as if yon 
are verily walking on holy ground. Go into 
that front room and stand by the window 
where he used to stand and preach to thou- 
sands of people during that terrible campaign 
that he waged in order that conscience might 
be allowed to worship God in its own way ; the 
battle against the hierarchy of Eome in favor 
of the Protestant faith of Scotland. 

But that is not the best place to get the best 
picture of the compassion of John Knox. Go 
into that little room in which he was wont to 
pray, and you can almost feel the touch of the 
spirit of the man. There in that little room 
John Knox was praying one day, and as he 
was on his knees he said, "Oh, God, give me 
Scotland, or I die." And he meant it. He 
felt it. His heart was bursting in agony over 
his nation. Like the spirit that characterized 

292 



Joseph in dealing with his brethren, he had a 
heart of compassion for them, and that is the 
spirit that must characterize every child of 
God in this world who enters into the place of 
God. 

When one gets in the place of God the first 
thing that he will become conscious of is the 
bursting of his heart with compassion over a 
lost world ; not simply a loved one, not simply 
a lost community, state or nation, but a heart 
of compassion that bursts in pain and agony 
over a lost world. 

Are you in the place of God? Have you 
ever had this heart-bursting compassion? Do 
you feel this bursting heart, this indescribable 
compassion for the lost world ? 

Joseph also had the forgiveness of God. 
When those brethren came suing for pardon, 
he assured them immediately of his forgive- 
ness. Not one thought or feeling did he hold 
against them. After that they had held the 
same place in his heart that they would have 
had had they never sinned. And I believe that 
he had a tenderness for them that he never 

293 



would have had had they not sinned, because 
he knew how deeply humiliated they now felt, 
and how grieved over their sin. 

So a man to-day, who is in the place of God, 
is a man who represents God in the forgive- 
ness of his brethren. No man can be in the 
place of God and carry the least whit of grudge 
or unforgiveness or hard feeling against his 
brethren. If Jesus ever established one truth 
it was this, when He said, "As you pray, for- 
give." He meant exactly what He said, for 
unless you forgive men their trespasses neither 
will your heavenly Father forgive you yours. 

No man will ever enter heaven with unfor- 
giveness against his fellowman in his heart, 
it makes no difference w x hat he has done 
against him. Never mind how much he has 
hurt your feelings ; no difference how much he 
has tried to trample you under his feet, un- 
less you forgive there will be no forgiveness, 
and unless there is forgiveness there will be 
no heaven. 

To get a picture of the forgiveness of God, 
look at Jesus on the cross as He looked out 

294 



upon that mob, laughing in His face, and 
though He realized that it was through this 
mob that His suffering had come, He was so 
conscious of the place of God that He said, 
" Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
they do." 

I sometimes think of this as one of the 
greatest hindrances to spiritual life and 
power. It is so easy for us, when we feel that 
we have been treated wrong, to harbour a 
grudge in our hearts. No life is in the place of 
God unless it forgives. But it means also that 
he is to represent God in his service, and this 
service is of a threefold character. 

It is, first, the service of love. How he loved 
those brethren as he looked upon them that 
day. As he looked upon them he must have 
thought of their common father. He must 
have thought of the days when they frolicked 
and played together as children, in the days 
when there was no bitterness between them, 
when they were all bound together with the ties 
of love, and his love for them brought for them 
the best service that he could give. What a 

295 



type of God. What a fit representation of 
God; the love of God, prompting his service 
for man. 

If someone asked me what the greatest 
motive in the world for service is, I should 
say love. If someone should ask me what is 
the one thing that the world needs from the 
church more than anything else, I should say 
it is love. 

One time I was preaching in a tent in Lon- 
don. When I had finished and was making 
an appeal to the unconverted, a well-dressed 
man arose out of the audience, saying, " Be- 
fore you go any further with this request I 
want to give a testimony." 

"All right," I said. 

He said: "I am a lawyer in this city, and 
testimony is known by some perhaps in this 
house, but not by all. I used to be a skeptic. 
I was unkind to my wife because she went to 
church. I refused to allow my children to go 
to Sunday-school. One night I was going 
through one of the worst slum sections of this 
city on some urgent business. As I went along 

296 



I passed a little Salvation Army mission room 
where about a half dozen people were gath- 
ered. 

"I was disgusted, as I always was when 
seeing a religious service. I got through with 
my business and came back, and as I passed 
this mission hall again a little lassie was sing- 
ing with as cracked a voice as I ever heard, 
and I said, 'Poor, silly thing. She had better 
be home,' and passed on. But I heard dis- 
tinctly what she said as she sang that old 
familiar hymn, 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul.' 

"When I reached home I sat down and pick- 
ed up a magazine to read, but I kept hearing 
that cracked voice and those words, 'Jesus 
Lover of My Soul. ' I went to bed as I could not 
read, but I found that I could not sleep. I lay 
there a long while, and then finally got up to 
try to read again, but I could not think of any- 
thing but that voice and that song, which kept 
ringing in my ears. 

"I finally awakened my wife and said, 'Do 
you suppose if there is a Jesus that He could 
love a man who has fought Him like I have?' 

297 



She burst into tears and sobbed so that she 
could not speak. I got up and walked the floor 
until finally the thought that He was the lover 
of my soul so overpowered me that I could not 
withstand that love any longer and I surren- 
dered my life to Him, and I have endeavored 
to live in His will ever since. ' ' 

Oh, how this world needs to know the love of 
J esus, and it will never know it except through 
the lives of those who are in the place of God, 
for it is only there that He gives equipment to 
do His work. 

Joseph's was also a service of tenderness. 
How tenderly he spoke to those brethren. Lis- 
ten as he spoke, and see how kindly he spoke 
to them and how he comforted them. What 
a fit representative of God he was ; and yet he 
was no more in the place of God than we are. 
In the place of God there is love and compas- 
sion and tenderness for the wayfaring man or 
woman with whom we come in contact, for, 
after all, they are our brethren. 

I never think of this line of service that my 
mind is not filled with the thought of Jesus as 

298 



he stood there dealing with that woman who 
had fallen in sin; a woman who would have 
been put out of the average church; a woman 
who would not have been allowed in any circle 
of decent society, but as Jesus came to deal 
with her, how tenderly He spoke to her, as 
tenderly as if He was speaking to a little child. 
No wonder He won her. She was bound to be 
won. That kind of healing will always win. 

The service of tenderness does not necessi- 
tate that we should be namby-pamby and 
wishy-washy, compromising with sin and evil. 
It means that as men in the place of God, we 
are baptized with the spirit of God which en- 
ables us to be kind and considerate and tender 
and forgiving, even while standing firm for 
right. 

My last thought is that it was a service of 
help. It would have been an incomplete serv- 
ice had it wound up with an expression of love 
and sympathy. He wants us to have the gift 
of tenderness, but He also wants us to have the 
gift of practical helpfulness. Listen at these 
words, and see how much like God was Joseph. 

299 



Remember, these men to whom he is speaking 
are the men who sold him into slavery, who 
caused him to put into the pit and to go 
through a great deal of suffering, and yet here 
is what he says after he forgave them, "You 
and your little ones I shall take care of." 

In the place of God every little one who 
needs your care has a claim on you. They 
are your care, as far as you are able to be of 
help to them in any way. In the place of God 
every sob and sigh that reaches your ears is a 
call for your help. In the place of God you are 
to act as He would ; you are to make it brighter 
and happier and sweeter for all with whom you 
come in contact. 

God has called the church into His place and 
through the church He is to express Himself 
to the world in need, and we will never impress 
the Christ and we will never draw men to the 
Bible until the church in the place of God feels 
that it is sent to express the very character of 
God with reference to all the needs of human- 
ity. 



300 



"HOME, SWEET HOME." 



I Tim. v:4 — "Show piety at home, for that is good and acceptable 
before God." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
"Home, Sweet Home." 

WE do not make enough of the home at 
this day and time. The rapid age ; 
the rush of business and the de- 
mands of society have relegated the home to 
the background. It ought to stand in the fore- 
front. It is the first institution established on 
earth. It is older than the law : it is older than 
the Sabbath. At the very beginning of the 
race, God saw fit to establish the home and 
throw around it the strongest protection. 

The history of the race in all its ups and 
downs has demonstrated that wherever a home 
has been accorded its Grod-given place, peace 
and prosperity have followed. It conserves 
society and builds up the nation. It shapes 
character and fixes destiny. It supports the 
church and promotes religion. There is no 
influence at work among men to-day outside 
of the Christian religion that deserves the at- 
tention and commands the respect of the 
world like the home. 

303 



But, alas ! alas ! It does not get it. When I 
was a boy, I remember how my heart was stir- 
red by reading the story of Daniel Boone. On 
the banks of the Kentucky river lived a hum- 
ble, quiet farmer and his family. One day 
when he returned home he found his wife in 
the yard, half frightened to death. After con- 
siderable effort she told him what had occur- 
red. "Yonder," said she, "in the house is an 
old Indian. He has insulted me." Nothing 
more was needed to be said. The husband, true 
and chivalrous, went in the house, seized the 
Indian, dragged him out into the yard, tied 
him to a tree, and then whipped him until he 
could not stand upon his feet. Finally he 
loosed him and told him to go. 

The Indian made haste to obey the com- 
mand but as he got near the woods he turned 
and looked back at the man who had whipped 
him with such a look as to arouse the suspicion 
of the woman whom he had insulted. 

"Husband," said she, "we are not done 
with that Indian yet. Mark what I tell you, he 
will yet do us harm." 

304 



" Never do you believe that," said the hus- 
band, "he got enough from this house." 

Many months passed by. The incident, 
itself, had almost been forgotten. One day, 
while the husband was at work in the field he 
heard a shriek from the direction of his home. 
He laid down everything at once and ran for 
home. Upon arriving he found his wife stand- 
ing upon the porch, looking in the direction of 
the hill across the way, and screaming: "The 
Indian! the Indian! He has got our boy on 
his back and running away with him! See! 
There he goes up the hill!" 

Just then a stranger ran up with a long rifle 
on his shoulder. "There!" said he, and then 
he leveled his rifle upon the Indian, pulled the 
trigger, and with the report of its fire the In- 
dian was seen to reel and rock and then fall ; 
while the boy was not hurt. The frantic wife 
and mother rushed to the stranger and looked 
him in the face, with tears of joy streaming 
down her cheeks, and said, "Oh, sir, what is 
your name?" And the stranger quietly and 

305 



modestly replied, "My name is Daniel Boone/ ' 
and walked away. 

I say my boyish heart was stirred by this 
story, and it is stirred by it to-day. The name 
of the enemies of the home, as the world now 
stands, is legion. It seems like the whole 
forces of hell are trying to break up and de- 
stroy the influences of home. There was a 
time when the chief attacks of the devil were 
seemingly made upon the church, but that time 
has passed at least for the present. 

What the devil seems concerned about now, 
more than anything else, is the destruction of 
our home. Sometimes I think we may use the 
church to aid him in his work. Anything that 
can be used to weaken and in any way destroy 
the peace and quiet of the home is seized upon. 
The devil knows that with the breaking up of 
the home everything goes to pieces. The 
church itself can not stand when the home is 
gone. 

I know Jesus said to Peter, "On this rock 
will I build My church, and the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it," but this does not 

306 



mean that the church is an impregnable for- 
tress before the army of the devil. To be sure, 
it is the interpretation given by many inter- 
preters, but it is false. 

The church is not a fortress, the church is 
an army, and thank God ! the gates of hell are 
not sufficiently strong to resist it in its onward 
march to conquer the world. That is the mean- 
ing of the statement of Jesus. The church 
will triumph, but it will triumph defending the 
home, and using it as its chiefest instrument 
in saving the world. 

Without the home the church would be noth- 
ing. With the home there is no power that 
can resist it. 

How careful, therefore, we ought to be to 
protect this sacred institution. Our ears 
should ever be ready to hear of efforts made 
to destroy it. Our eyes should ever be keen to 
detect the usurper. And our hands ever 
ready to bring to death every measure and 
movement that threatens its destruction. It 
fills too sacred a place in our affections for us 
to allow anything to mar it. It is linked with 

307 



every struggle and victory, it is a part of ev- 
ery human experience of the human heart. 

Talk with the sailor boy on mid ocean when 
the ship rocks and reels in the violence of the 
storms, and he says, "I long to see home." 

"I am going home," says the shopman when 
he bars the doors and closes the windows at 
night. 

"I must hurry home," says the mother, 
whose heart is set upon the baby in the cradle. 

"Oh, to get home," says the school boy, dis- 
* consolate over the hopeless task. 

" Don't stop me, I'm going home," says the 
girl skipping along the footpath. 

"Almost home," says the dying saint. "I 
shall soon be home, and then no more sorrow 
or sighing. Almost home." 

We never know how to value home until we 
have lost it. I was once returning from Eu- 
rope with a very congenial, happy party. The 
weather had been good, and the sea well-nigh 
perfect. It was frequently remarked that 
never a happier party and a better voyage had 
been experienced. With very few exceptions 

308 



all the passengers were Americans returning 
home, and so it was arranged that as our ship 
anchored at quarantine at the mouth of New 
York harbour, the band should play "Home, 
Sweet Home." 

Early in the morning the engine stopped 
throbbing, and the anchor was cast, while the 
quarantine ship with officers and men for our 
ship pulled up by the side of us ; then the band 
played. I am sure the old song was never half 
so sweet. It had in it a pathos and a meaning 
which I had never realized before. But sud- 
denly our joy was interrupted with a scream. 
A beautiful young woman who had been the 
jolliest in the party had received a telegram 
stating that her mother was dead. 

"Stop the band," said a young man, "for 
God's sake do not play 'Home, Sweet Home' to 
a girl that has just lost her mother, for there is 
no home to her when mother is gone." 

It was a sad experience to me, but it im- 
pressed a great truth, which I shall never for- 
get. Home is never home after mother is gone. 
The house may be ever so attractive ; the f urni- 

309 



ture ever so costly, the companionship and 
friends ever so congenial, but home without 
mother is like a winter evening without fire. 
Give me my mother's love in the old home, and 
I shall be happy shivering in the cold. 

Oh ! young men and women, let me kindle in 
your hearts afresh the love of home. There is 
nothing that will serve to put you right with 
Grod and man quicker than the thought of a 
godly mother, and her prayers and ambitions 
for your life. 

Doctor P. S. Henson of Boston tells this 
story, it is a part of his own experience. Many 
years ago he was on his way to preach a com- 
mencement sermon at Wake Forest College in 
North Carolina. At the town of Weldon, he 
found an old man in the seat opposite him. He 
was a rough-looking specimen of a man. Evi- 
dently he showed that he had lived a tough 
life; he seemed to be in great distress. "Can I 
be of any comfort to you, my friend?" said the 
doctor. "No, no," said he, in a gruff manner. 
Several times he offered help but he was re- 
fused, the man saying, "Nobody cares for me." 

310 



Doctor Henson made his trip and was re- 
turning. At a little station on the way this 
same old man was on the train. He seemed in 
more trouble than before. The doctor spoke 
to him again, and this time he seemed glad of 
an opportunity to talk. 

Said he, "Mister, I am all broken up. Oh, 
I am ruined. You see, I am old now; I am 
over 70. When I was a boy, I ran away from 
home. I had a good mother. At first I felt 
lonesome, and often thought about her, but as 
time passed, I ceased to think of her. I never 
wrote to her, and she did not know where I 
was. 

"Some time ago I began to think of her. I 
felt like I must see her, but I did not expect 
she was living. The thought continued to stay 
with me. I resolved to come from my western 
home, back to North Carolina to see if I could 
find her. I went to the neighborhood and asked 
for her, but nobody knew anything about the 
family. 

"Finally, I found an old man who remem- 
bered her, but could not tell me where she was 

311 



buried. But I remembered the old church 
where she always carried me, and I went over 
and found it was gone to nothing. I went in. 
It had a brick floor. I found the place where 
she always sat. There were the bricks where 
her feet had rested. I got down there and 
cried, mister, cried like a child. Oh, to have 
been able to call her back ! 

"And now, friend, do you see this bundle? 
Well, I am carrying it home. This brick, you 
see, is worn ; her feet did that ! I am going to 
take it home, and when I die, I want my head 
to rest on this brick and my soul to go where 
she has gone." 

I can not do a better thing, than to urge you 
to think upon this pathetic story. It carries 
me back to a very striking and significant ex- 
perience in my own boyhood days. My mother 
was not a demonstrative woman, she never 
made very much ado about things. She was 
of steady, staid, old Dutch parentage, but she 
had a faith and affection which was deep and 
true. 

312 



I remember very well when I left home to go 
to college, I was only a lad of sixteen years. I 
was very poor in this world's good, but never 
was there a boy richer in a mother's love. She 
took me aside after my little trunk was packed, 
and closed the door and knelt down with me 
and prayed. I shall never forget part of that 
prayer. "Oh, Lord, make my boy a good 
man." 

I do not know what else she prayed for, but 
that one sentence has lingered with me all 
through the years of my ups and downs, and 
many, many a time it has come to me and 
helped me drive away the tempter when he 
has come to lead me astray. 

Do not, I beg you, get so important, do not 
get so busy in any line of service, that you fail 
to remember those days of earnest, loving, af- 
fectionate care which were ever thrown about 
you by mother ; and if she still lives let your 
life be such as to cheer her and comfort her 
in the days of her old age. If she has gone, 
think none the less of honoring her memory 
by making the most of your life. 

318 



But, finally, our earthly home with all of its 
tender memories and sweet and hallowed as- 
sociations is but a type of our home beyond the 
skies. 

A story is told of a New Zealand chief who 
once visited England and was taken to see 
Windsor Castle. The gentleman who took him 
expected to find him greatly charmed with its 
magnificence and beauty, but it seemed to ex- 
cite little admiration in his mind. 

The gentleman then began to point out to 
him the grandeur of the furniture, paintings 
and the like. The chief finally interrupted 
him and said, "My father's house is finer than 
this." The gentleman knew that his father's 
house was but a poor mud cottage, but the chief 
went on to say "My father's house is much 
finer than this," and began to speak of the 
House of many Mansions, his eternal home be- 
yond the skies. 

If we miss everything else in this world of 
good things, let us not fail to have a home in 
heaven. How blessed it will be when the toils 
and struggles of life are over to sit down and 

314 



rest in our mansions beyond the skies, to see 
God, and entertain angels, to sit down in pal- 
aces with patriarchs and prophets ; to talk with 
the great saints of the ages, and last, but not 
least, to be forever with loved ones who have 
gone on before. It is the privilege of us all. 
Jesus stands offering the passport. The tide 
of salvation is constantly rising, there is no bar 
that can resist it. God help us to catch it, that 
it may bear us on its bosom across the break- 
ers and land us at last in "Home, Sweet 
Home." 



315 



THE PLACE OF TEE BIBLE. 



Isaiah xl:8. — "The g?~ass withereth, the -flower fadeth: out the 
word of our God shall stand forever." 



CHAPTER XIX. 
The Place of The Bible. 

IX looking at any question involving the fu- 
ture state we must of necessity have to 
rely in the last analysis upon the place of 
the Bible, hence we will here have a look at 
what the Bible says of itself. 

The first thing that I call you to note is this : 
the Bible is our looking-glass: 2 Cor. 3:18. 
4 4 But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as 
in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans- 
formed into the same image from glory to 
glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." 

Unquestionably, reference is here made to 
the Word of God. It is the glass in which is 
revealed the glory of God. There is no other 
way for us to see the glory of God. To be 
sure, "The heavens declare the glory of God, 
and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.' ' 
But the full-orbed glory of God is not seen in 
creation nor in government. The full glory, 
the majesty of God, is only seen when we get 
a peep into the heart of God ; and to get a peep 
into the heart of God it is necessary for us to 

319 



go back to the beginning, and find our way 
through the winding paths that lead all 
through the Old Testament Scriptures, some 
of them very circuitous routes; but when we 
have travelled them we come out at the manger 
where the Babe Jesus is found, — God's first 
Revelation of His heart of love. 

There we get a peep into the heart of God. 
We get it nowhere else. Even then we have 
not seen the full glory of God. Until we begin 
at the beginning of that marvelous story of 
His life, and wind our way through those oft- 
times mystical paths that run through the gos- 
pel story of the life of J esus, and finally come 
out at the foot of Calvary, there stretched upon 
the cross is Jesus, dying ; and there, in the dy- 
ing agony of Jesus, is the final revelation of 
the heart of God; "For God so loved the world, 
that He gave His only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in Him might not perish, but 
have everlasting life." You get that nowhere 
outside the Word of God. Destroy your Bible 
and there is no revelation that God ever made 

320 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




DRIVING OUT THE MONEY CHANGERS. 
Matt. 21: 12; Luke 19: 45; John 2: 13-16. 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 
John 4 : 4-42. 



of the fullness of His love and glory in Christ 
Jesus. 

It is not only that the Bible reveals the glory 
of God mirrored — God looking down into it, 
having His image fully reflected back upon 
the world, — but the Bible is our looking-glass, 
revealing ourselves as well. 

A looking-glass, if it is a good one, is the 
only honest way for a man to see himself phys- 
ically. Some of us don't like it. Nevertheless, 
we have to put up with it. Whether we like it 
or not, it is the only way for a man to see him- 
self just as he looks. The photographer's plate 
does not do it. One day I sat, I don't know 
how long, in a chair manipulated by a very 
good photographer, and I said, "Why are you 
taking up so much time, why don't you go on 
and take the pictured" He said, "I am trying 
to fix you up so that you will look as well as 
possible." When I saw the picture he made, 
I said, "If this is the result of all that ma- 
neuvering, the real, sure-enough thing must be 
awful!" 

321 



When we come to look into the Word of 
God, as the mirror to reflect ourselves, there is 
nobody there to fix us up. There is no tilting 
of the head at the proper angle, and putting 
the chin down; it is just the naked revelation 
of the man as he is. It is just the mirror of 
God. That is the reason why so many people 
are driven from it. 

I have been spoken to by more than one per- 
son, who said, "The Bible is not to me what it 
seems to be to you, for I can not read it. It 
cuts me to the quick." If the real secret of so 
much failure to study the Bible and read it 
were known, we would be amazed to find that 
so many people have been led, through their 
own desire to escape the penetration and the 
pricking of their own consciences, to leave off 
the reading of the Word of God. 

I shall never forget some years ago there 
was an awful murder committed. A young 
woman was killed, and a young man disap- 
peared at the same time, so he was suspected 
of being the murderer: but he could not be 
found. Finally, so conscious was he of the ex- 

322 



tent of his crime, and so conscience-smitten 
that he came all the way back to that city and 
went wandering out in the darkness of the 
night, and knelt upon the spot where he had 
taken the girl's life. While he knelt there he 
was discovered, and was soon afterwards 
placed in jail, and came to his trial. As he 
stood before the jury, he confessed his crime. 
I was in the city at that time, and got permis- 
sion to have a talk with him, and I carried with 
me a Bible. He had been raised a Roman 
Catholic, and had not therefore read the Bible, 
and knew nothing about it. He thanked me 
for bringing him the Bible. A few days later 
I went to see him again, and I saw the Bible 
laying over in the corner. I said, "Have you 
read your Bible ? ' ' 

" Don't talk to me about that book," he said. 
"I have been trying to get them to take it out 
of here. I want you to take it out. You 
brought it in." 

I said, "What is the matter with it*? That 
book points to your only hope." 

Said he, "If that is my only hope, then I am 
gone. The very sight of that book makes me 

323 



shudder. When I open it, every page tells me 
of my sin ; and if that is my hope, then I am a 
man without hope. Take it out of here." 

That man's story is only the story of hun- 
dreds of thousands of men and women whose 
consciences have been seared so long, until 
they have come upon the Bible and have seen 
in it a revelation of themselves as they are be- 
fore God, and as they are before the world. 

But God's Word is not only our mirror, it 
is more than that. It is the spiritual X-ray. 
Heb. 4:12 says: "The Word of God is liv- 
ing, and active, and sharper than any two- 
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of 
soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and 
quick to discern the thoughts and intents of 
the heart." 

Do you know what the X-ray is? .It is one 
of the most wonderful instruments that has 
ever been invented. It is an electrical machine 
that so intensifies the light that it shines 
through the body, every part of it, photograph- 
ing on the other side every single abnormality 
that it finds within the body. All foreign mat- 

324 



ter that is abnormal to the body can be photo- 
graphed by this X-ray light. 

A doctor friend of mine called me one day 
into his office and showed me a photograph of 
the spinal cord of a man I knew well, whose 
lower extremities had been paralyzed for a 
number of years, and who had been dragging 
his limbs about all the time. My friend said, 
"Here is a discovery that is worth everything 
to that man." As I looked down this spinal 
column, I saw something sticking into it, and 
was told that it was the point of a fine needle 
which that man had perhaps received when he 
was a child, maybe the carelessness of a nurse. 
In some way he had fallen upon the needle and 
it had been broken off, and this fine point had 
bored its way down into the spinal cord, and 
was there irritating it through all the years of 
his early life, until finally there was almost 
perfect paralysis in the lower extremities. 

You know what the treatment was: just to 
go with a knife to that spinal cord ; then, with 
a pair of forceps, to get hold of that tiny bit 
of steel and take it out. The X-ray shining 

325 



through the body, through the organs, up 
against the bone, detected the foreign sub- 
stance that was doing the mischief. 

It seems to me that I never read a clearer 
description of the X-ray than the one the 
writer of the letter to the Hebrews gives us in 
this verse, "The Word of God is living and 
active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, 
and piercing even to the dividing of soul and 
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick 
to discern the thoughts and intents of the 
heart." 

There is God's X-ray; it is the Bible. 
It is His holy book into which He has poured 
the electrifying fluid of His Holy Spirit to 
preserve it. When it is charged by the faith 
of the man who takes it, it shines in and 
through him, and unveils the very secret of 
his inner life. Nothing else in the world does 
that. 

Some time ago, a young man, supposed to 
be a splendid young fellow, exemplary and 
moral, was lying on his death bed. At the foot 
of his bed, hanging upon the wall was the pic- 

326 



ture of a beautiful woman. He had told his 
mother that she was his sweetheart, and that 
he was to be married to her. Somehow, that 
marriage had been postponed again and again. 
The dear old mother never thought of disbe- 
lieving him. One day, as he was lying there 
near to death's door, his mother came in and 
found him quivering with emotion, with tears 
raining upon his cheeks, and he said, " Mother, 
turn that picture round: hide it from me." 
She said, "Why do you want me to hide the 
face of your sweetheart?" "She is not my 
sweetheart," he said; "she has been my ruin. 
Hide her face. I can not look at it any longer. ' ' 
Nothing but God's holy Spirit through the 
Word of God which he had been reading, 
could have caused that man to turn to the wall 
that face which had damned his life. It is an 
awful thing, yet it is necessary that we face 
these things before we come to die, and go to 
stand before the judgment bar of God at last 
with . a conscience that is saturated and seared 
with sin, when it is too late for blood and grace 

327 



to wash it away; when it is too late to get 
peace and pardon. 

What men need is to come and place them- 
selves before this burning, scorching, flashing 
light of the Spirit, and let it reveal to them 
the secret thoughts and sins that lie in the 
chambers of their souls. 

Our last point is, that it is a lamp and a light 
for the guidance of our feet. David, in Ps. 
119:105, says: 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 
And a light unto my path." 

Picture a man standing before the looking- 
glass of God's word, and having full revela- 
tion made of his external life as the world 
sees it, but as, perhaps, he had never seen it 
before. That would be awful : but it is a great 
deal worse when we remember that in addi- 
tion to the fact that the Bible reveals to one 
himself as the world sees him, it reveals to him 
himself as God sees him. It shines in and 
through his soul, and unearths that which per- 
haps he thought was hidden. 

328 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHRIST HEALING THE SICK 
Matt. 15. 30 



GALLERY OF SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 



THH PRODIGAL, SON 
Luke 15 : 11—32 



It would be a bad picture to leave a man 
hopeless like that. I thank Grod for this other 
step. 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 
And a light unto my path" 

for the guidance of the soul and life out of his 
state into the light of God. 

Once there was a man who kept a saloon 
near my church. He was one of the worst 
men that this world ever saw. He had damned 
more men, wrecked more homes, broken more 
mothers' hearts, starved more children than 
almost any man that I know. He was espe- 
cially hurtful to my community, and I made 
up my mind that when he appeared before our 
city council to have his license renewed, that 
I would appear before him, and we would have 
a tussle over that business, and if possible, I 
would defeat him. So, one day one of my 
members said to me, "Do you know this man 
is to appear for his license renewal?" 

I said : ' 1 I will be on hand. ' ' 

329 



It got noised abroad that I would be there 
to fight the granting of the license, and when 
the time came, the court was full of people, 
mostly on his side. The subject came up, and 
I asked permission of the mayor and council 
to speak. Consent was given and I walked 
within the rail, and there, in front of me, al- 
most close enough to touch, was this man with 
his application for license. 

I did the best I could to show up the char- 
acter of the man ; he had a character that was 
too black and too hideous and too awful to be 
allowed to sell that stuff in the back corridors 
of perdition. That was just what I said about 
him, and he did not like it; and I know that 
people have sometimes a suggestive way of 
saying when they don't like a thing, and back- 
ing it up with something that is more expres- 
sive. I sat down, and the license committee 
made its report, and then they took a vote, and, 
much to my surprise and gratification, they re- 
fused to grant that man a license, thus winding 
up his business, and putting him out of a job. 

330 



I immediately felt that it was necessary to 
go home. I had not gone very far when I met 
a man who knew about this business, and he 
said, "I want to make a suggestion. You go 
another way home from your usual way, for I 
have just heard that man talking to some 
friends of his, and he says that he is going to 
wear you into a frazzle and then wear the 
frazzle out." 

"No, he wont't," said I; "I am not going 
home that way." A few days after that I was 
going to my study, which was in the church, 
and I met another friend who said, "My ad- 
vice is that you had better seek another way 
of coming to the church, for this man, if he 
overtakes you, might do you serious hurt; he 
might kill you." 

And so it went on for several days, until 
finally one morning I went into my study, and 
there sat that man. I was in a good humor 
that morning, going along whistling, and hav- 
ing a good time with myself. It was a cold, 
crisp, beautiful morning, and it made me feel 
good ; but when I walked in and saw this great, 

331 



strapping six-foot fellow there, I didn't feel 
so good. I said, "Good morning.' ' 

"Good morning," he said. 

"Beautiful morning, " I said. 

"Yes, it is very pretty," he said. 

"Very cold," I said. 

"Not cold in here." 

I said: "I am glad it is comfortable." 

Then I sat down and waited for him to 
speak. After a while he said: "Doctor 
Broughton, I suppose you have heard what I 
have been saying that I was going to do for 
you'?" 

"Yes." 

"Well, that is what I have come here to talk 
about." 

I was very anxious to talk. I had no doubt 
but what I was going to receive what he had 
promised, and I didn't mind putting it off 
awhile with talk. 

He said, "Doctor Broughton, you said some 
pretty hard things about me." 

I said, "Yes, I did. I said some hard things 
about you, but I was not mad. I was stating 

332 



what I honestly believed, and I was stating it 
because of what you had led me to observe. It 
was an appeal I made on behalf of helpless, 
heart-aching mothers, weak fathers, and their 
boys. I want to say to you, that if you want 
to put your threats into execution, here I am. 
I have done my duty before God, and I have 
nothing to fear, and no favors to ask." 

Then he said, "I have not come for that. It 
is far from my mind to-day. I have come in 
an entirely different spirit. If I had seen you 
a week ago, perhaps I would have killed you. 
But now I have come to talk with you and to 
ask you some questions.' ' 

Then tears came into his eyes and he said, 
"You don't know that my old father was one 
of the best men that ever lived. You don't 
know that my old mother died of a broken 
heart because of my sin. I don't know why, 
but last night I was rummaging around in my 
desk for some business papers, and I came 
upon a letter she wrote me not long before she 
died, and that is responsible for my being here. 

333 



"This is what she wrote, 'My dear boy, 
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow; though they be red like crim- 
son, they shall be as wool. ' When I saw those 
words, those scripture words that I had forgot- 
ten, my heart sank within me, and I had no 
rest. I have come to ask you if you think God 
will take a poor old sinner like me? If you 
think He will, would you mind getting down 
on your knees, and asking Him to do it to- 
day?" 

The following Wednesday evening in my 
baptistry I baptized that man and two others 
whom he had brought. No other words taken 
from any other book in the world would have 
brought about that change in a man. 

But to know the Bible, there must be much 
dependence upon the Holy Spirit whose busi- 
ness it is to reveal the inner spiritual meaning 
of it. Let me give an illustration out of my 
own life and experience : 

Many years ago I visited Luray Cave, in 
Virginia. It was before the electric lights were 
put in. When we started in, the guide gave 

334 



us each a candle, that being the only light we 
had. After having gone down a considerable 
distance and getting damp, and cold, I began 
to enquire for the stalactites and the stalag- 
mites that I had heard so much about. The 
guide told me to look round and I would see 
them in abundance. I did so, and sure enough 
I saw them, but I was greatly disappointed. 
They were not at all what I had expected to 
see. 

Finally, I began to ask to go back, but the 
guide said that he was not allowed to go back. 
He must go through before turning. 

After a while he came to a place which is 
called the Great Audience Chamber. My can- 
dle was burning very low and I was getting un- 
easy. "Here," said the guide, "is the great 
audience chamber! Lift up your lights and 
you will see the most beautiful formations that 
you have ever seen in your life." I did as he 
directed and saw some very pretty things, but 
they were not what I had expected to find, and 
I was very much disappointed, and so ex- 
pressed myself to my companions. 

335 



But I noticed that the guide was unwinding 
something that looked like a spool of ribbon. 
When he had finished he asked me to let him 
light it with my candle. I did so, and imme- 
diately there flashed out the most beautifully 
brilliant light I ever saw. What he held was 
a roll of magnesium ribbon, and it gave forth 
the most brilliant magnesium light, rivalling 
the sun in beauty. 

When the light flashed I dropped my candle 
and began to look around me. What a beauti- 
ful sight it was ! Yonder were the faces of the 
patriarchs; yonder were faces of angels. In 
another place were horses and chariots and 
hundreds of other things that I do not now re- 
member. While I was gazing with all my 
might, a young lady of our party who knew the 
place well, slipped behind us, and with an iron 
pin began striking the stalactites that hung 
over us, playing "Home, Sweet Home." 

When I went back to the hotel that night 
God spoke to me. I was to preach the next 
day a college commencement sermon, and as 

336 



I knelt down in my room to pray, God seemed 
to say to me, " Your equipment for Bible study 
has not been the proper one. Your text for 
to-morrow you have misinterpreted. You 
have the interpretation of the books ; it is not 
my interpretation. You have been relying 
upon your little flickering candle-light of rea- 
son and human knowledge. I want to give you 
the light of the Holy Ghost to shine upon these 
Bible truths; I want them to shine out in all 
of their real beauty. You have seen them in 
the light of human wisdom. They will flash 
upon you with a new glory when illuminated 
by the light of the Holy Ghost." 

There came upon that very text that I had 
chosen to preach from the next day a new light 
and in the light of that spirit I preached an 
entirely different one. 

Would you know your Bible? Would you 
have an insight into its beauty — its real 
beauty? Would you see its great truths as 
you have never seen them before ? Would you 
have them grip you with a new grip? Then 

337 



take your wisdom, the wisdom of this world, 
and everything else you have, to God the Holy 
Ghost, and ask Him to touch what you have 
with what He has, and there w T ill come upon 
you and the Bible a new light and a new power. 



338 



A TESTIMONY — 
THE TRANSFORMATION 
OF SUFFERING. 



Isa. lx:17. — "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I xoill 
bring silver; and for wood, brass, and for stones iron." 



CHAPTER XX. 



A Testimony — The Transformation of 



By Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A., D.D. Pastor of Regent's Park Chapel. 
Hon. Secretary of the Free Church Council of England. 



HIS chapter begins with the stirring 



cry, 66 Arise and shine for thy light is 



come, and the glory of the Lord is risen 
upon me." 

What was true of Jerusalem is true of the 
inward experience of the Christian, for when 
after sore travail the soul is borne out of the 
life of earthliness and sin, into the life of the 
Spirit, a new life, not born of the sun or moon, 
or stars, falls upon life and human experience, 
and the soul rises into the dawn of a new un- 
derstanding, and in the life of that under- 
standing, what was brass becomes gold, and 
what was iron becomes silver; and for wood 
the soul gets brass and for the stone and rub- 
ble of former days it becomes enriched with 
iron. 

I want to speak of four or five illustrations 
of this. We realize that modern chemistry has 



Suffering. 




341 



sprung out of the efforts of the alchemists of 
the Middle Ages to discover the philosopher's 
stone, which was to turn every metal into gold 
and though they have never discovered that 
stone, yet the researches of those alchemists 
have enriched the world, perhaps even more 
than if the various metals had been turned to 
gold! 

Is not this an illustration of how God Al- 
mighty comes into the things of our life which 
might appear hurtful and turns the brass into 
gold, the iron into silver, and the wood into 
brass, and the stone into iron? 

I will speak of this for a little, that you may 
not dread to suffer, that you may not give back 
before opposition and trouble, but be brave 
enough to go right through the experience of 
human life, trying to find in each of them the 
hand of G-od, which is constantly changing 
what is irksome and sorrowful, and transcen- 
dental and enriching. 

How many there are who feel that they are 
justified in complaining because day after day 
they are called to the common routine. They 

342 



feel that they are made for something higher 
and braver, and it is irksome to have to spend 
all their life in trifles, in doing so-called drudg- 
ery, in taking the daily monotonous path of 
the commonplace, in pursuing year after year 
the journey not unlike the beast going round 
and round the worn path turning the wheel 
or raising the bucket from the well. 

What shall I get out of all this, and why 
should I be yoked to this unwelcome toil ? If 
only I had not to support my dear ones, I 
would seek some more congenial sphere in 
which I might do something to startle the 
world, or write my name high on the rock of 
fame! 

Thus the shoulder becomes chaffed by the 
collar which you are daily bearing. God can 
change this brass into gold, for if you properly 
consider it, the bottom fact to which you come 
amid the corrosion and acidity of discontent, 
is acceptance of the divine will. 

When the heart looks through its circum- 
stances to the face of God and definitely ac- 
cepts from God a place, though it be that of 

343 



a cog-wheel in the big machine, it becomes sat- 
isfied with God's appointment, and acquiesces 
in His will. The bottom fact is to accept your 
life from the dispensation and w r ill of your 
heavenly father. It may be that the work you 
are doing is the best work that you could do. 
Perhaps you are overestimating yourself, and 
are not capable of doing that greater work that 
you expect. Be thankful, therefore, if God 
gives you any work to do. For it may be that 
this work that you count but drudgery is put 
into your life as a test. 

As in the case of Joseph who ministered in 
the prison before he was called to minister in 
the Palace, so you are being put through the 
ordeal of the commonplace in order to search 
you out, and keep you what you are. No man 
is called to rule over ten cities if he has buried 
his one talent in the earth, and you must testify 
in Damascus before you are sent to J erusalem 
or Rome. 

David never would have been able to stand 
face to face with Goliath unless he had exer- 
cised himself with his sling in the lonely places 

344 



as a shepherd lad. You are being tested, and 
if you will only do the common work nobly, 
God will call you to do greater service for His 
church and for the world. Besides which, if 
you are too great to do the little thing well, it 
is not that the thing you do is little, but that 
you are little and a little thing is too great for 
you. 

The greatest people are those who can do the 
little things best, and if you shirk them it is 
because these little things are bigger than you 
can carry. A great man will do little things 
greatly, a perfect man shows his perfection 
even as God Almighty shows it under the 
microscope. 

You remember how the greatest artists are 
always taking as their subjects the common in- 
cidents of life and glorifying them. God puts 
into our lives a lot of rubble, but a great archi- 
tect is able to build a noble erection out of the 
common stones. The greatest achievements 
are not those in which men use the righest and 
rarest materials but in which they take the 

345 



common materials and erect them into magnif- 
icent edifices. 

Think how a Wellington or a Nelson have 
made the things they handle of inestimable 
worth. Think how men will travel long dis- 
tances to see the little house where Shake- 
speare was born ; or the cottage where Luther 
lived. 

If you were really a great soul, you would 
dignify and ennoble the things you touch so 
that people will some day take long journeys 
to see the desk at which you wrote, or the 
oracle which you handled. It is in the com- 
monplace of life that we are being tested, and 
if we are really dignifying them, we are pre- 
paring ourselves for higher and holier service. 

If young men or women would day by day 
go through the office or daily task imagining 
that it was a temple ±n which they were serv- 
ing, remembering it is the work that Christ 
has put into their hands to do, and feeling that 
He had made each one of them kings and 
priests the whole of the commonplace of life 
would become royal with a new dignity and 

346 



glory, and would shine as the garments of 
Jesus shone, fairer than any fuller could 
whiten them. Then God would give us gold 
for brass, and all life would become transfig- 
ured with the light of Paradise. 

Sorrow is like the dark cloud which makes 
the rainbow. Sorrow is God's furnace in 
which the bonds are forged off our wrist. Sor- 
row is God's almoner which brings us to His 
largesse. Sorrow is the cloth which is thrown 
over the cage to teach the song bird to sing 
more sweetly. Probably only in this human 
life can we experience it. The bottom fact is 
to take sorrow as at least permitted, if not de- 
creed, by the will of God. 

There are some things that seem to come to 
us directly from the hand of God; there are 
others which God permits to come to us, but 
they have no power over us at all unless it were 
given them from above. Therefore, we must 
look beyond the men and women and circum- 
stances, and believe that God has permitted 
them, as, in the poem of old, satan was permit- 
ted to work havoc in the life of Job. 

347 



But whether it is the decretive or permissive 
purpose of God, we may take it as the will of 
our Father. The great point is to be sure that 
we take our comfort from the right source. 

If we get comfort from the lower source of 
human sympathy, from pleasure or travel, or 
by changing our position, we shall come out of 
the sorrow infinitely poorer; but if we will 
turn from the grief to the hand that sends it, 
and derive our comfort from the heart of God, 
sorrow will pay us a toll which will make us 
rich ever afterwards. 

The Psalmist says weeping comes in the 
night. We can almost see her toiling up the 
dark valley, at the foot of which the thunder- 
storm is breaking; she steals into the house, 
and tarries for the night, but she always pays 
for her lodging. 

The novelist in "Adam Bede" says that it 
is too bad to come out of a great sorrow no 
richer than we entered it, and bids us to learn 
to listen to that which God Almighty desires 
to teach, that we may come out of our trials 

348 



more sympathetic, and with a wider view of 
men and things. 

Never be so occupied with your own grief 
as to cease to be courteous, thoughtful and 
careful of others; nay, rather go out of your 
way to be a son or a daughter of consolation. 

When you refuse to become self -centered 
and begin to pour out the comfort wherewith 
God has comforted you, you cease to be called 
Marah — bitterness, but begin to be known as 
Naomi — pleasant. Remember to seek your 
help and comfort from above, and then in grief 
itself you will find the alchemy at work which 
will turn the brass into gold. 

Wash your face and anoint your head. Do 
not go through the world shedding upon others 
the shadow that lies deep upon your own soul, 
but be brave and strong enough to bear the 
burden of others, to scatter sunshine. So 
peace will come to you. 

There is an old Eastern proverb which says 
"I asked Allah for something to ride, and he 
gave me something to carry.'' 

349 



The road of life gets so precipitous for some 
of us that we lose our footing, and roll to the 
bottom with a cloud of dust and stones upon 
us. We lie in the darkness of our pessimism 
and revile ourselves and our sore circum- 
stances, and almost revile God. We lie there, 
broken and crushed, like some of those aero- 
nauts, whose aeroplanes fall beneath them and 
they lie amid the heap of debris and rubbish. 

Failure comes from two sources. Some- 
times by our moral failure, and sometimes 
from our misjudgment. When it comes from 
moral failure, because we have done something 
that we ought not, or left undone what we 
should have done, the best thing is at once to 
go to Christ for forgiveness. It seems to me 
certain that our delay in asking Christ for par- 
don hurts him more than the original sin that 
we had committed. It is not so much the sin, 
as the unbelief to fail to trust Him to forgive 
us and restore our souls. The first thing, 
therefore, is instantly to seek to be readjusted 
by the mercy and forgiveness of Christ. 

350 



It is a mistake to suppose that most success- 
ful men are those who have never failed, or 
that do not fail. More have succeeded through 
failure. The man who has never failed is less 
able to understand and manage his fellows, is 
less tactful and self-controlled, is less likely 
to avert a disaster, and to retrieve lost causes, 
than those who have learned the sources of 
weakness, only to guard against their re-occur- 
rence and avoid them in the future. 

The best teachers are those who have been 
warned and corrected by their own mistakes. 

The captain who has had an accident with 
his steamer, and the commander who has lost 
a banner but who has deeply pondered the 
sharp lesson, and obtained the honey out of the 
carcass of the lion are more careful and pru- 
dent than untempered success, which is apt to 
become foolhardy. 

Do not keep dwelling on your faults. No- 
tice carefully how they occurred. Analyze 
their inception, progress, and maturity. Learn 
your lesson so carefully that you may not 
make the same mistake again. Then forget 

351 



the things that are behind your past successes, 
and your past failure and " Press forward to 
the mark of the prize of your high calling in 
Christ Jesus." 

Listen to Carlisle's advice on this point. He 
says: " Never let mistakes or wrong direc- 
tions, of which every man falls into many, dis- 
courage you. There is previous instruction to 
be got by finding we were wrong. Let a man 
try faithfully, manfully to do right; he will 
grow daily more and more right." 

The idea that prevails with so many is to 
get away from their tasks and begin over 
again. It is natural enough, and there is a 
sense in which we awake each morning to live 
in the freshness of new resolves; but let us 
never forget that the noblest men are those 
who make their mistakes and make them step- 
ping-stones to a more conspicuous success, and 
baffled have fought better. 

"Does not the irrevocable past 
As wholly wasted, wholly vain, 
If rising on its wrecks at last 
To something nobler we attain." 
— Longfellow. 

352 



There is a great distance between falling 
with our face toward or falling with our face 
averted from the ideal, or to put it bluntly, 
between falling up and falling down. There 
are some who when they have lost their foot- 
ing resign themselves to the force of moral 
gravitation, and continually descend with an 
ever-increasing velocity. They despair of 
themselves, of forgiveness, despair of God. 
For them the one fall has so broken their self- 
complacency, that they can not face a repeti- 
tion, and will not believe that pure virtue is 
unattainable in man's native strength. 

Others there are, as in a happier mould, 
who, while falling, keep their eyes fixed on a 
glistening purity above them, and have no 
sooner touched the ground than they spring to 
their feet again, and begin to climb anew. They 
refuse to have the great matter settled by one 
untoward accident. One point may be lost, 
but the game is not finished. 

Paganini once, in the face of an expectant 
audience, broke every string save one, of his 
violin, and cried, "One string and Paganini!" 

353 



Yes, one last string and God will yet make 
music out of an almost wrecked life ! 

There are other setbacks which arise not so 
much from moral defect or obliquity, but from 
errors of judgment. We see how such and 
such a step led to a dispensation of energy, a 
waste of time, injury to ourselves and others, 
misunderstanding, heart burning, and a be- 
clouding of a fair dawn. "If only we had 
that chance in our hands again" we exclaim, 
"how differently we would act." This is very 
tormenting. What a labyrinth of conjectures 
we enter upon when we try to piece out for our- 
selves the happenings which might have taken 
place if only we had decided and acted differ- 
ently! We always seem to suppose that any 
course would have been better than the one we 
adopted, and that any other path would have 
brought us out of the main road. 

But this is by no means certain. As likely 
as not, it would have landed you in a similar 
or worse quagmire. This incessant worry over 
the past is as weakening and disabling and use- 
less as it is vain. You are not only helpless 

354 



to undo what is done, but you sap the energy 
with which you should face the situation which 
has been created, and requires strong handling. 
You discourage others by your expressions of 
regret. 

That rude soldier Joab spoke admiringly 
good sense to David when he gave way to ex- 
cessive weeping over his miscreant son. The 
victory that day was turned into mourning 
unto all the people, for the people heard say 
how the king was grieved for his son, and the 
people gat them by stealth into the city, as peo- 
ple that are ashamed steal away when they flee 
in battle. And his commander-in-chief of the 
army, who had saved the kingdom for him, 
said, " Arise, and go forth and speak comfort- 
ably to thy servants, for I swear by the Lord if 
thou go not forth, there will not tarry with 
thee a man this night — and that will be worse 
unto thee than all the evil that hath befallen 
thee from thy youth until now." 

On the whole, in this case also, it is wise to 
forget the things that are behind. It is a good 
maxim, that if we have acted according to the 

355 



best light that we had at the time, what we de- 
cided on was the will of God, and was the best 
that could be done. You had not your present 
experience at your side then. You could not 
forecast how the matter would work out. You 
did your best so far as you then knew. If you 
had to make your decision again under the 
same conditions, it would be almost certainly 
identical with the one that you now deplore. 

Then leave it there. Don't fret or worry. 
You trusted in God when you acted — dare to 
believe that His hand was guiding you. This 
is the best way through, however difficult it is. 
Any other way would not only have been diffi- 
cult but impossible. The difficulties you are 
encountering are hard to flesh and blood, but 
they are as much slighter than they would 
have been, as the waters at the neap are lower 
than at the flood. 

Let the past no longer debilitate you, rise 
and meet the present. You did what you 
thought to be right when your turned back 
from the straight road to Canaan and marched 
back on the Red Sea. The mountains block 

356 



your onward path, the sea lies all along upon 
your left hand, and now Pharoah and his men 
of war are pressing on your track. You are in 
a wedge of perplexity and peril. Throw the 
responsibility of the position upon God, whose 
will you have endeavored to do. Stand still 
and see His salvation. He will make a way in 
the sea, and a path in the mighty waters, for 
none of them that trust in Him shall be deso- 
late. 

The one crucial question in all this must be, 
Am I growing? We have had our ups and 
downs, our crushing defeats, our catastrophes, 
our hours of heart-break and despair. Our 
Jabbok-brooks with their mysterious conflicts 
have left us halting in our gait. The craft of 
Delilah to whom we ought never to have sub- 
mitted ourselves has deprived us of vision and 
brought us to grind in the prison house. But 
has there been growth ? 

After all, no man need write Ichabod on his 
life, if through all its various experiences he 
has never turned his back, but has always 
marched breast forward. It is not so much a 

357 



question of what we have done, but what has 
come of our character in the doing. One bat- 
tle lost or won, seldom decides alone the fate of 
the campaign. Inch by inch the enemy must 
be driven back. Year after year the buildings 
proceed. The grave question is, What are the 
net gains of life ? That we have had reverses, 
made bad debts, been often deceived and baf- 
fled; but has the King's business prospered, 
and will the balance sheet at the end show a 
clear and satisfactory profit? "The tired 
wavelets" close in shore may seem no painful 
inch to gain ; but what of that if — 

"Far back through creeks and inlets making, 
Comes silent, flooding in, the main!" 

Thus God turns our brass to gold, and our 
iron into silver. 

It is very pleasant for us when our path lies 
among the green pastures and beside the still 
waters. But suddenly we are sometimes 
thrown into the field of battle, and when all 
around is the clash of arms it seems to us a 

358 



poor exchange, and again we would seek the 
sheltered valley. 

When staying with a friend one day in Scot- 
land, she led me into the sheltered garden, 
around which the thick yew hedge was planted, 
protecting the slopes where flowers of every 
fragrance and color gathered. The air was 
heavy with their scent, and as we sat there we 
discovered and discussed the varieties of the 
flowers that grew. 

Away, back on the sky-line, I saw the long 
wooded plantation. In one of the rows of trees 
there was a huge rest where the storm had 
broken upon the Tay Bridge and rooted up 
some 300 trees from that plantation, leaving 
its scar after all these years. But I said to 
myself, I would rather be up amongst those 
trees, facing the storms and sheltering these 
flowers than I would be the flowers under the 
yew hedge, which to-day are and to-morrow 
are withered and cast into the oven, so eph- 
emeral and transient are their lives. The trees 
live through the long years, but these die in 
the week ! 

It is better to be the tree that stems the 
storm, for only there can you learn what God 

359 



can be to the hardly-beset soul ; it is there that 
you get the qualities that make men men, and 
again in the battle of life God brings the gold, 
silver, brass, and iron to compensate for the 
lower things, which may seem easier, but which 
are not so prolific of manhood. 

All, therefore, that happens to you and me 
in life is capable of being transformed, if we 
only take these things from the hand of God 
and find Him in them. There is nothing that 
will not be transfigured by His light and 
Spirit. The only question is — are we capable 
of the highest? Has our soul emerged from 
the sense-life to the spirit-life % Have we been 
born out of the cramped condition of our na- 
tional origin to the wide space of eternity. 
Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? 
Have you given your heart and life to Him? 
If so, dare to believe that whatever life may 
bring you at this hour, however sorrowful, 
however commonplace, however full of fail- 
ure and doubt, of the clash of arms or raging 
tempest, God will give you gold for brass, sil- 
ver for the iron, brass for wood, and iron for 
the stones. 

360 



OTHER TESTIMONIES ON 
IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Othek Testimonies on Immortality. 
Theodore Pare^r. 

INHERE are times when we think little 



of the future life. In a period of suc- 



cess, serene and healthy life, the day's 
good is good enough for that day. But there 
comes a time when this day's good is not good 
enough, its ill too great to bear. 

"When death comes down and wrenches off 
a friend from our side, — wif e, child, brother, 
father, a dear one is taken — this life is not 
enough. Oh, no, not to the coldest, coarsest 
and most sensual man. 

"I put it to you, to the most heartless of you 
all, or the most cold and doubting — when you 
lay down in the earth your mother, sister, wife 
or child, remembering that you shall see their 
face no more, is life enough ? Do you not reach 
out your arms for heaven, for immortality, 
and feel you can not die ? 

"When I see men at a feast, or busy in the 
street, I do not think of their eternal life ; per- 
haps feel not my own. But when the stiffened 




363 



body goes down to the tomb, sad, silent, re- 
morseless — I feel there is no death for man. 
That clod which yonder dust shall cover, is not 
my brother. The dust goes to its place, man 
to his own. 'Tis then I feel my immortality. 
I look through the grave into heaven. I ask 
no miracle, no proof, no reasoning for me. I 
ask no risen dust to teach me immortality. I 
am conscious of eternal life. 

"But there are worse hours than these; sea- 
sons bitterer than death — sorrows that lie a 
latent poison in the heart, slowly sapping the 
foundations of our peace. There are hours 
when the best life seems a sheer failure to the 
man who lived it ; his wisdom folly, his genius 
impotence, his best deed poor and small ; when 
he wonders why he was suffered to be born; 
when all the sorrows of the world seem to pour 
upon him ; when he stands in a populous lone- 
liness, and though weak can only lean upon 
himself. 

"In such hours he feels the insufficiency of 
his life. It is only his cradle time; he counts 
himself just born ; all honors, wealth and fame 

364 



are but baubles in his baby hand; his deep 
philosophy but nursery rhymes; yet he feels 
the immortal fire burning in his heart. He 
stretches his hands out from his swaddling 
clothes of flesh, reaching after the topmost 
star, which he sees, or dreams he sees, and 
longs to go alone. Still worse, the consciousness 
of sin comes over him, — he feels that he has in- 
sulted himself. All about him seems little; 
himself little, yet clamoring to be great. 
Then we feel our immortality; through the 
garish light of day we see a star or two beyond. 
The soul within us feels her wings and wres- 
tles with the earthly worm that folds us in, 
contending to be born, impatient for the sky." 
Dk. Guthkie. 
"Our spiritual, ethereal essence had its sym- 
bol in the heaven-ascending flame which the 
heathen carved on their own tombs ; and their 
hopes of immortality were expressed as well by 
the lamp they lighted amid the gloom of the 
sepulchre as by the evergreen garlands that 
crowned the monuments of their dead. This 
hope has been a star that shone in every sky ; 

365 



a flower that bloomed in the poorest soil; a 
flame that burned in the coldest bosom. 

"Immortality! that made heroes of cowards. 
It imparted the weakness a giant's strength. 
It made the courage of the bravest warrior 
burn high in the day of battle. It nerved yon- 
der unbending savage to endure, without a 
groan to gratify his captors or disgrace his 
tribe, the tortures of fire and stake. 

"Why do these weeping Greeks approach the 
dead man, as he lies on his bier for burial, and 
open his mouth to put in an obulus ? The coin 
is passage money for the surly ferryman who 
rows the ghosts over Styx's stream. Any way, 
in that forest grave, around which plumed and 
painted warriors stand unmoved and immova- 
ble as statues, do they bury, with the body of 
the Indian chief, his canoe and bows and ar- 
rows ? He goes to follow the chase, and hunt 
the deer in the spectre land where the Great 
Spirit lives, and the spirits of his fathers have 
gone before him. How easy it is to trace in 
these customs and beliefs a sort of rude copy 

366 



of the words. Life and immortality, I shall not 
die, but live. 

"O, listen man! 
A voice within us speaks the startling words 
Man, thou shalt never die ! Celestial voices 
Hymn it round our souls ; according harps, 
By angel fingers touched, when the mild stars 
Of morning sang together, sound forth still 
The song of our great immortality. 
O, listen ye, our spirits ; drink it in 
From all the air ! 'tis in the gentle moonlight ; 
"lis floating in day's setting glories; Night 
Wrapped in her sable robe, with silent step 
Comes to our bed and breathes it in our ears." 

F. W. Robektson. 

"What is our proof of immortality? Not 
the analogies of nature altogether: the resur- 
rection of nature from a winter grave, or 
emancipation of the butterfly. Not even the 
testimony of the fact of the risen dead; for 
who does not know how shadowy and unsub- 
stantial these intellectual proofs become in un- 
spiritual frames of mind ? 

"No; the life of the Spirit is the evidence. 
Heaven begun is the living proof that makes 

367 



the heaven to come credible. 'Christ in you is 
the hope of glory. ' It is the eagle eye of faith 
which penetrates the grave, and sees far into 
the tranquil things of death. He alone can 
(properly) believe in immortality, who feels 
the resurrection in him already. . . . We 
wish for immortality. The thought of an- 
nihilation is horrible ; even to conceive it is al- 
most impossible. The wish is a kind of argu- 
ment; it is not likely that God would have 
given all men such a feeling if He had not 
meant to gratify it. 

i 'Every natural longing has its natural sat- 
isfaction. If we thirst, God has created liquids 
to gratify thirst. If we are susceptible of at- 
tachment, there are beings to gratify that love. 
If we thirst for life and love eternal, it is likely 
that there is an eternal life, and an eternal love 
to satisfy that craving. ' ' 

Dr. E. W. Laxdis. 

"We are told that the doctrine of the soul's 
immortality could only have arisen from the 
speculations of men of genius ; and that it was 
introduced by legislators to console mankind 

368 



under oppression, or deter them from crime 
by motives drawn from future retribution. 

"If this be so, how happens it that it has 
found its way into the deserts, and has been 
diffused alike over the South Sea Islands and 
those of the Pacific; over Lapland and Asia, 
and the nations of benighted Africa? The 
nations of the Society Islands entertain it ; and 
those too of the friendly islands ; the New Zea- 
landers also and the inhabitants of the Pelew 
Islands, with the wild tribes of Kalmuc Tar- 
tary, and all the wandering tribes which have 
peopled and do still people the continent of 
America. 

"E'en the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds and hears Him in the wind, 
Whose soul proud science never taught to stray 
Far as the Solar walk or Milky way ; 
Yet simple Nature, to his hope has given 
Behind the cloud-topped hill an humbler 
heaven, 

Some safer world in depths of woods em- 
braced, 

Some happier island in the watery waste, 
Where slaves once more, their native land be- 
hold." 

369 



Sir Humphrey Davy. 
* ' Even in a moral point of view, I think the 
analogies derived from the transformation of 
insects admit of some beautiful applications, 
which have not been neglected by pious ento- 
mologists. The three states of the caterpillar, 
larva, and butterfly, have since the time of the 
Greek poets, been applied to typify the hu- 
man being, its terrestrial form, apparent 
death, and ultimate celestial destination ; and 
it seems more extraordinary that a sordid and 
crawling worm should become a beautiful and 
active butterfly — that an inhabitant of the 
dark and fetid dunghill should in an instant 
entirely change its form, rise into the blue air, 
and enjoy the sunbeams, than that a being, 
whose pursuits here have been after an undy- 
ing name, and whose purest happiness has 
been derived from the acquisition of intellec- 
tual power and infinite knowledge, should rise 
hereafter into a state of being where univer- 
sality is no longer a name, and ascend to the 
source of unbounded power, and infinite wis- 
dom. " 

370 



BULWER. 

"I can not believe that earth is man's abid- 
ing place. It can't be that our life is cast up 
by the ocean of eternity to float a moment upon 
its waves, and then sink into nothingness : else, 
why is it that the glorious aspirations which 
leap like angels from the temple of our heart 
are forever wandering about unsatisfied? 
Why is it that the rainbow and clouds come 
over with a beauty that is not of earth, and 
then pass off, and leave us to muse upon their 
favored loveliness? Why is it that the stars, 
who hold their festival around the midnight 
throne, are set above the grasp of our limited 
faculties, forever mocking us with their un- 
approachable glory? And finally, why is it 
that bright forms of human beauty are pre- 
sented to our view, and then taken from us 
leaving the thousand streams of our affection 
to flow back in Alpine torrents upon our 
heart? 

4 ' We are born for a higher destiny than that 
of earth; there is a realm where the rainbow 
never fades, where the stars will be spread be- 

371 



fore us like islands that slumber on the ocean ; 
and where the beings that pass before us like 
shadows will stay in our presence forever. " 

Napoleon. 

Napoleon, once in the gallery of the 
Louvre, turned from a fine picture, to Baron 
Denon, saying, "That is a fine picture, 
Denon! " "Yes, immortal," was the reply. 
"How long will this picture and statue last?" 
said Napoleon. ' ' This picture for five hundred 
years, and a statue for five thousand, sire." 
"And this you call immortality'? " said Na- 
poleon. 

Cicero. 

"There is, I know not how, in the mind of 
men, a certain presage, as it were, of a future 
existence ; and this takes the deepest root, and 
is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses 
and the most exalted souls." 

» 

Dr. Maffit. 
"The Phoenix, a fabled bird of antiquity, 
when it felt the advancing chill of age, built 

372 



its own funeral urn, and fired its pyre by 
means which nature's instinct taught. All its 
plumage and its form of beauty became ashes ; 
but then would rise the young. 

" Beautiful from the urn of death and cham- 
bers of decay would the fledgling come, with 
its eyes turned toward the sun, and essaying 
its dark velvet wings, sprinkled with gold and 
fringed with silver, on the balmy air ; rising a 
little higher, until at length, in the full confi- 
dence of flight, it gives a cry of joy, and soon 
becomes a glittering speck on the bosom of the 
aerial ocean. Lovely voyager of earth, bound 
on its heavenward journey to the sun! So 
rises the Spirit-bird from the ruins of the 
body, — the funeral urn which its Maker built, 
— the deathfires. So towers away to its home, 
to the pure elements of spirituality, intellect 
Phoenix, to dip its proud wings in the foun- 
tain of eternal bliss. So shall dear, precious 
humanity survive from its ashes of a burning 
world. So beautifully shall the unchanged 
soul soar within the disc of eternity's great 

373 



luminary, with undazzled eye and unscorched 
wings — the Phoenix of immortality, — taken to 
its rainbow home, and cradled on the beating 
bosom of eternal love." 



374 



A TESTIMONY — 
WHAT HEAVEN IS LIKE. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

A Testimony — What Heaven is Like. 

By Chas. Haddon Spurgeon. 

HERE is a most glorious promise: 
"Many shall come from the east and 
the west, and shall sit down with Abra- 
ham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
heaven." 

I like that text, because it tells me what 
heaven is and gives me a beautiful picture of 
it. It says, it is a place where I shall sit down 
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. O, what 
a sweet thought that is for the working man! 
He often wipes the hot sweat from his face, 
and he wonders whether there is a land where 
he shall have to toil no longer. He scarcely 
ever eats a mouthful of bread that is not moist- 
ened with the sweat of his brow. Often he 
comes home weary, and flings himself upon a 
couch, perhaps too tired to sleep. He says, 
"Oh! is there no land where I can rest? Is 
there no place where I can sit, and for once 
let these weary limbs be still ? Is there no land 

377 



where I can be quiet?" Yes, thou son of toil 
and labor, 



" There is a happy land 
Far, far away — " 

where toil and labors are unknown. Beyond 
yon blue welkin there is a city fair and bright, 
its walls are jasper, and its light is brighter 
than the sun. There "the weary are at rest, 
and the wicked cease from troubling.' ' Im- 
mortal spirits are yonder, who never wipe 
sweat from their brow, for "they sow not 
neither do they reap," they have not to toil or 
labor. 

" There on a green and flowery mount, 
Their weary souls shall sit ; 
And with transporting joys recount 
The labor of their feet." 

To my mind, one of the best views of heaven 
is, that it is a land of rest — especially to the 
working man. Those who have not to work 
hard, think they will love heaven as a place of 
service. That is very true. But to the work- 
ers 



ing man, to the man who toils with his brains 
or his hands, it must ever be a sweet thought 
that there is a land where we shall rest. Soon 
this voice will never be strained again; soon, 
these lungs will never have to exert themselves 
beyond their power ; soon this brain shall not 
be racked with thought ; for I shall sit at the 
banquet table of God; yea, I shall recline on 
the bosom of Abraham, and be at ease forever. 

Oh ! weary sons and daughters of Adam, you 
will not have to drive the ploughshare into 
the unthankful soil in heaven, you will not 
need to rise to daily toils before the sun hath 
risen, and labor still when the sun hath long 
ago gone to his rest, but ye shall be still, ye 
shall be quiet, ye shall rest yourselves, for all 
are rich in heaven, all are happy there, all are 
peaceful. Toil, trouble, travail, and labor are 
words that can not be spelled in heaven ; they 
have no such things there, for they always rest. 

And mark the good company they sit with. 
They are to sit down with " Abraham, and 
Isaac, and Jacob." Some people think that in 
heaven we shall know nobody. But our text 

379 



declares here, that "we shall sit down with 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob." Then I am 
sure that we shall be aware that they are Abra- 
ham, Isaac and Jacob. 

I have heard of a good woman who asked 
her husband, when she was dying, "My dear, 
do you think you will know me when you get 
to heaven?" "Shall I know you?" he said, 
"Why, I have always known you while I have 
been here, and do you think I shall be a greater 
fool when I get to heaven?" 

I think it was a very good answer. If we 
have known one another here, we shall know 
one another there. I have dear, departed 
friends up there, and it is always a sweet 
thought to me, that when I shall put my foot, 
as I hope I may, upon the threshold of heaven, 
there will come my sisters and brothers to 
clasp me by the hand and say, "Yes, thou loved 
one, and thou art here." 

Dear relatives that have been separated, you 
will meet again in heaven. One of you has lost 
a mother — she is gone above ; and if you follow 
the track of Jesus, you shall meet her there. 

380 



Methinks I see yet another coming to meet you 
at the door of Paradise ; and though the ties of 
natural affection may be in a measure forgot- 
ten, — I may be allowed to use a figure — how 
blessed would she be as she turned to God and 
said, "Here am I, and the children thou hast 
given me." 

We shall recognize our friends: husband, 
you will know your wife again. Mother, you 
will know those dear babes of yours — you 
marked their features when they lay panting 
and gasping for breath. You know how you 
hung over their graves when the cold sod was 
sprinkled over them, and it was said, "Earth 
to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes." But ye 
shall hear those loved voices again; ye shall 
yet know that those whom ye loved have been 
loved by God. 

Would not that be a dreary heaven for us to 
inhabit, where we should be alike, unknowing 
and unknown ? I would not care to go to such 
a heaven as that. I believe that heaven is a 
fellowship of the saints, and that we shall 
know one another there. I have often thought 

381 



I should love to see Isaiah; and as soon as I 
get to heaven, methinks I would ask for him, 
because he spoke more of J esus Christ than all 
the rest. I am sure I should want to find out 
good George Whitefield — he who so contin- 
ually preached to the people, and wore himself 
out with a more than seraphic zeal. 

Oh, yes! we shall have choice company in 
heaven when we get there. There will be no 
distinction of learned and unlearned, clergy 
and laity, but we shall walk f reely one among 
the other ; we shall feel that we are brethren ; 
we shall "sit down with Abraham, and Isaac 
and Jacob." 

I have heard of a lady who was visited by a 
minister on her death bed, and she said to him, 
"I want to ask you one question now I am 
about to die." "Well," said the minister, 
4 4 what is it?" "Oh!" said she, in a very af- 
fected way, "I want to know if there are two 
places in heaven, because I could not bear that 
Betsy in the kitchen should be in heaven along 
with me, she is so unrefined?" The minister 
turned and said, "O, don't trouble yourself 

382 



about that, Madam: there is no fear of that: 
for until you get rid of your accursed pride, 
you will never enter heaven at all." 

We must all get rid of our pride. We must 
come down and stand on an equality in the 
sight of God, and see in every man a brother, 
before we can hope to be found in glory. Aye, 
we bless God, we thank Him that there will be 
no separate table for one and for another. The 
Jew and the Gentile will sit down together. 
The great and the small shall feed in the same 
pasture, and we shall "sit down with Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of 
heaven." 

But my text hath a greater depth of sweet- 
ness, for it says, that "many shall come and 
shall sit dowTi." Some narrow-minded bigots 
think that heaven will be a very small place, 
where there will be a very few people, who 
went to their chapel or their church. I con- 
fess, I have no wish for a very small heaven, 
and love to read in the Scriptures that there 
are many mansions in my Father's house. 

383 



How often do I hear people say: "Ah! 
strait is the gate and narrow is the way, and 
few there be that find it. There will be very 
few in heaven; there will be most lost." My 
friend, I differ from yon. Do yon think that 
Christ will let the devil beat him? that He 
will let the devil have more in hell than there 
will be in heaven V No ; it is impossible. For 
then Satan wonld langh at Christ. There will 
be more in heaven than there are among the 
lost. God says that "There will be a mimber 
that no man can number who will be saved;" 
but He never says that there will be a number 
that no man can number that will be lost. 
There will be a host beyond all count who will 
get into heaven. 

What glad tidings for you and for me ! for 
if there are so many to be saved, why should 
not I be saved? Why should not you? Why 
should not yon man over there in the crowd 
say, "Can not I be one among the multitude?" 
And may not that poor woman there take 
heart, and say, "Well if there were but half-a- 
dozen saved, I might fear that I should not be 

384 



one; but since many are to come, why should 
not I also be saved?" 

Cheer up, disconsolate! Cheer up, son of 
mourning, child of sorrow, there is hope for 
thee still ! I can never know that any man is 
past God's grace. There be a few that have 
sinned that sin unto death, and God has given 
them up ; but the vast host of mankind are yet 
within the reach of sovereign mercy — "and 
many of them shall come from the east and 
from the west, and shall sit down in the king- 
dom of heaven." 

Look at my text again, and you will see 
where those people come from. They are to 
"come from the east and west." The Jews 
said that they would all come from Palestine, 
every one of them, every man, woman and 
child; that there would not be one in heaven 
that was not a Jew. And the Pharisees 
thought that, if they were not all Pharisees, 
they could not be saved. But Jesus Christ 
said, there will be many that will come from 
the east and from the west. There will be a 
multitude from that far-off land of China, for 

385 



God is doing a great work there, and we hope 
that the gospel will yet be victorious in that 
land. 

There will be a multitude from this western 
land of England, from the western country be- 
yond the sea, in America, and from the south 
of Australia, and from the north of Canada, 
Siberia and Russia. From the uttermost parts 
of the earth there shall come many to sit down 
in the kingdom of God. But I do not think 
the text is to be understood so much geograph- 
ically as spiritually. When it says that they 
shall come from east and west, I think it does 
not refer to nations particularly, but to differ- 
ent kinds of people. 

Now, the "east and west" signify those who 
are the very farthest off from religion ; and yet 
many of them will be saved and get to heaven. 
There is a class of people who will always be 
looked upon as hopeless. Many a time have I 
heard a man or woman sav of such an one 
"He can not be saved; he is too abandoned. 
What is he good for ? Ask him to go to a place 
of worship, he was drunk on Saturday night. 

386 



What would be the use of reasoning with him ? 
There is no hope for him. He is a hardened 
fellow. See what he has done these many 
years. What good will it be to speak to him ? ' ' 

Now hear this, ye who think your fellows 
worse than yourselves — ye who condemn oth- 
ers, whereas ye are often just as guilty ; Jesus 
Christ says, "Many shall come from the east 
and west. ' ' There will be many in heaven that 
were drunkards once. I believe, among that 
blood-bought throng, there are many who 
reeled in and out of the tavern half their life- 
time. But by the power of divine grace, they 
were able to dash the liquor cup to the ground. 
They renounced the riot of intoxication — fled 
away from it — and served God. Yes! There 
will be many in heaven who were drunkards 
on earth. There will be many harlots; some 
of the most abandoned will be found there. 

You remember the story of Whitefield's once 
saying that there would be some in heaven who 
were "the devil's castaways some that the 
devil would hardly think good enough for him, 
and yet whom Christ would save. Lady Hunt- 

387 



ington once gently hinted that such language 
was not quite proper. But just at that time 
there happened to be heard a ring at the bell, 
and Whitefield went down stairs. Afterwards 
he came up and said, " Your ladyship, what do 
you think a poor woman had to say to me just 
now? She was a sad profligate, and said 
'O Mr. Whitefield, when you were preaching, 
you told us that Christ would take in the dev- 
iPs castaways, and I am one of them/ " and 
that was the means of her salvation. 

Shall anybody ever check us from preaching 
to the lowest of the low ? I have been accused 
of getting all the rabble of London around me. 
God bless the rabble! God save the rabble! 
then say I. But suppose they are "the rabble," 
who need the gospel more than they do ? Who 
require to have Christ preached to them more 
than they do? We have lots of those who 
preach to ladies and gentlemen, and we want 
some one to preach to the rabble in these de- 
generate days. 

Ah, here is comfort for me, for many of the 
rabble are to come from the east and from the 

388 



west. Oh! what would you think if you were 
to see the difference between some that are in 
heaven and some that shall be there? There 
might be found one whose hair hangs across his 
eyes, his locks are matted, he looks horrible, 
his bloated eyes start from his face, he grins 
almost like an idiot, he has drunk away his 
very brain until life seems to have departed, 
so far as sense and being are concerned ; yet I 
would tell to you, "that man is capable of sal- 
vation," and in a few years I might say, "look 
up yonder," see you that bright star? discern 
you that man with a crown of pure gold upon 
his head? do you notice that being clad in 
robes of sapphire and in garments of light? 
That is the self -same man who sat there, a poor, 
benighted, almost idiot being; yet sovereign 
grace and mercy have saved him. 

There are none, except those, as I have said 
before, who have sinned the unpardonable sin, 
who are beyond God's mercy. Fetch me out 
the worst, and still I w r ould preach the gospel 
to them; fetch me out the vilest, still I would 
preach to them; because I recollect my Mas- 

389 



ter said, "Go ye into the highways and hedges, 
and compel them to come in that My house may 
be filled. " 1 ' Many shall come from the east 
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
heaven. ' ' 

There is one more word I must notice be- 
fore I have done with this sweet portion — that 
is the word 1 ' shall. ' ' Oh, I love God 's 1 i shalls ' ' 
and "wills!" There is nothing comparable to 
them. Let a man say "shall," what is it good 
for? "I will," says man, and he never per- 
forms; "I shall," says he, and he breaks his 
promise. But it is never so with God's 
' ' shalls. " If He says ' ' shall ' ' it shall be ; when 
He says "will" it will be. 

Now, He has said here, "many shall come." 
The devil says "they shall not come ;" but they 
"shall come." Their sins say, "You can't 
come;" God says, "You shall come." Yes. 
there are some here who are laughing at sal- 
vation, who can scoff at Christ and mock at the 
gospel; but I tell you some of you shall come 
yet. "What!" you say, "Can God make me 

390 



become a Christian?" I tell you yes, for 
herein rests the power of the gospel. It does 
not ask your consent, but it gets it. It does 
not say, Will you have it? but it makes you 
willing in the day of God's power. Not against 
your will, but it makes you willing. It shows 
you its value, and then you fall in love with it ; 
and straightway you run after it, and have it. 

Many people have said "We will not have 
anything to do with religion," yet they have 
been converted. I have heard of a man who 
once went to chapel to hear the singing, and as 
soon as the minister began to preach, he put 
his fingers in his ears and would not listen. 
But by and by some tiny insect settled on his 
face so that he was obliged to take a finger out 
of his ear to brush it away. Just then the min- 
ister said : "He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear. ' ' The man listened ; and God met him at 
that moment to his soul's conversion, and he 
went out a new man, and a changed character. 
He who came in to laugh, retired to pray; he 
who came in to mock, went out to bend his knee 
in penitence ; he who entered to spend an idle 

391 



hour went home to spend an hour in devotion 
to God. The sinner became a saint ; the profli- 
gate became a penitent. Who knows that there 
may not be some like that here ? 

The gospel wants not your consent, it gets it. 
It knocks the enmity out of your heart. You 
say "I do not want to be saved," Christ says 
you shall be. He makes your will turn round, 
and then you cry, 4 4 Lord, save or I perish." 
' ' Ah, ' ' might Heaven exclaim - 6 I knew I would 
make you say that ;" and then He rejoices over 
you because He has changed your will and 
made you willing in the day of His power. 

If Jesus Christ were to stand on this plat- 
form to-night, what would many people do 
with Him'? "O!" say some, "we would make 
Him a King." I do not believe it. They 
would crucify Him again if they had the op- 
portunity. If He were to come, and say, 
"Here I am, I love you, will you be saved by 
mef" not one of you would consent if you were 
left to your will. If He should look upon you 
with those eyes, before whose power the lion 
would have crouched; if He spoke with that 

392 



voice which pored forth a cataract of eloquence 
like a stream of nectar rolling down from the 
cliffs above, not a single person would come 
to be His disciples. No: it wants the power 
of the Spirit to make men come to Jesus 
Christ. He Himself said, "No man can come 
to Me except the Father who hath sent Me 
draw him." 

Oh ! we want that and here we have it. They 
shall come! They shall come! ye may laugh, 
ye may despise us ; but J esus Christ shall not 
die for nothing. If some of you reject Him, 
there are some that will not. If these are not 
saved, others shall be. Christ shall see His 
seed, He shall prolong His days and the pleas- 
ure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands. 
Some think that Christ died; and yet, that 
some for whom He died will be lost. I never 
could understand that doctrine. If J esus, my 
surety, bore my griefs and carried my sor- 
rows, I believe myself to be as secure as the 
angels in heaven. God can not ask payment 
twice. If Christ paid my debt, shall I have to 
pay it again? No. 

393 



"Free from sin I walk at large 
The Savior's blood my full discharge; 
At His dear feet content I lay, 
A sinner saved, and homage pay." 

They shall come! They shall come! And 
nought in heaven, nor earth, nor hell can stop 
them from coming. 

THE END. 



The 33 pages of illustrations contained in this book, are not 
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pages of text makes a total of 427 pages. 



394 



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